Chapter VII. Academic Services

 

J. E. and L. E. Mabee Library

Library Mission Statement
The Library serves to support the academic process with an appropriate collection of
resources, offered in a spirit of Christian service, in a setting where equipment and facilities
promote excellence in learning with materials to educate, inspire, and recreate.

The mission of the Library is to provide comprehensive services and resources to directly support the high quality of the graduate programs at the University. The multi-million dollar library renovation project, completed in the fall of 1997, provided funding for a new and updated building as well as the latest in library technology and functional design. This facility houses a comprehensive collection including books, journals and audiovisual materials to support diversified curricula and users’ research needs. The library’s collection contains almost 300,000 volumes and volume equivalents in print and electronic format. More than 19,000 titles in periodical subscriptions are available in various formats. Over 10,000 items in non-print formats are included in the library’s growing audiovisual collection. Access to numerous electronic resources, particularly online databases, coupled with interlibrary loan and document delivery services expand and enrich the on-site collection. These collections, coupled with the most current facilities and equipment, provide substantial resources for graduate-level study and research.

Library Catalog & Electronic Resources

The library’s own collections, linked with access to numerous online databases and links to metadata for information mining, provide outstanding research support for the university’s diverse community of students. The Library’s catalog and online databases are accessible from computers on campus or any remote location. The Online Public Access Catalog, (OPAC) contains records for all of the Mabee Library’s holdings in all formats, including books, journals, audiovisual materials, electronic resources and other items.The OPAC record displays information on the item, including its location and current circulation status. The catalog also includes records for reserves and books on order. .

The Library’s holdings are cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System and can be searched in a variety of ways. The OPAC can be used to search and sort materials by author, title, keyword, subject and other criteria. Search results can be further refined by date or other parameters such as format. Additionally, the OPAC can be used to generate bibliographies and access materials in all collections in the library including vertical files, journals holdings and books in a series.

The Library provides students and faculty with access to an extensive collection of online databases and electronic resources. Many of the databases allow students to access citations to journal articles along with abstracts, full-text and images. Users can then download, e-mail or print data displayed on the screen. Some databases, such as Academic Search Premier and Dissertation Abstracts are interdisciplinary in scope to satisfy basic research requirements. All digitized dissertations can be downloaded by UIW password. Others, such as the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ABI/INFORM for business information, MLA, and PsycINFO are subject specific and meet the research needs of specific disciplines. Many of these resources are made available through membership in local and statewide library consortia. These include CORAL (Council of Research and Academic Libraries of San Antonio, Inc.) and TexShare as well as the international OCLC (Online Computer Library Center). Resource sharing through these alliances enhances interlibrary loan and document delivery services, allowing students access to resources in other libraries usually without charge. UIW and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio have a special arrangement for lending research materials.

Library Collections

Audiovisual Materials—a collection of over 10,000 non-print media including DVDs, DVD-ROMs, CD-ROMs, compact discs, audio and video cassette tapes, slides and other materials to support all UIW academic programs.

Children and Young People’s Collection—a wide variety of primary and secondary level fiction and non-fiction books to support reading and research needs for Education and Children’s Literature courses are available in the Sr. Collette Ross Children and Young People's Collection. This collection is located on the second floor adjacent to the Joe L. Frost Play and Play Environments Research Collection. These unique resources enhance graduate Education studies and research in Education and related areas.

Finnegan’s Coffee Shop—a refreshment center adjacent to the Library Atrium offers the opportunity for library users to relax while enjoying a cup of coffee or tea and/or a snack!

Current Periodicals & Microforms Room—all current print journals and newspapers, as well as serials on microfilm, are located on the second floor. Several newspapers, including the complete New York Times newspaper collection from 1851, are on microfilm and in the Historical Newspapers databases . This area also includes all ERIC documents from 1987 forward on microfiche (microfiche ceased publication in 2004) and the Library of American Civilization (a microfiche collection of 19,100 books representing historical primary and secondary source material for graduate research).

Curriculum Materials Collection—a collection of current state-adopted textbooks, curriculum guides, and other materials related to studies in Education and teacher preparation are found on the second floor near the Sr. Collette Ross Children and Young People’s Collection

The Reference Room—Scholarly publications and materials for in-house consultation support all UIW programs. This includes an extensive bibliography section, as well as general and subject specific reference resources.

Reserves—faculty selected materials for limited circulation in support of learning requirements for specific courses are kept at the Circulation Desk for Reserve Reading.

Special Collections Suite—a beautiful area given by library benefactors Dolores and John Mitchell houses unique, first or limited editions, special editions, signed and rare books. These include volumes from the collection of Texas philanthropist and entrepreneur George W. Brackenridge such as the Antiquities of Mexico and other volumes from his personal library. Florence Rosengren and Elizabeth Loch are among other generous benefactors.

Texana Collection—an outstanding selection of books about Texas and by Texas authors housed on the first floor in the area behind the Reference Desk. Local newspaper clippings, on-campus publications, catalogs, bulletins and yearbooks, and unique papers and items left by Miss Adina De Zavala and the Menger Family are in the Texana Room, located on the second floor. Texana reference materials are shelved separately in the Reference Room.

Benefactors

The Mabee Library is very fortunate to have the generous support of numerous individuals and organizations in maintaining and expanding its collections. The Estate of Arsenne Blondin, given in memory of the Alfred Lyster Blondin Family, has been designated to fund purchases of books and other resources in support of all doctoral level studies.

Funds for significant collections have been given by the George W. Brackenridge Foundation for rare books, the Richard Spencer Lewis Foundation for Nursing books, and the Russell Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts Collection for books and audiovisual items in support of Theater and the Performing Arts. M. Jeanne Fairweather, M.D., has funded Music books as has the Estate of Edward O’Brien Young, providing a bequest along with a rich collection of music resource materials. The Dawson Estate Environmental Science Fund has provided reference and circulating environment books throughout the library collections. A gift from the Steves Family in honor of Joan Cahill Steves has provided many general and reference books to enhance the holdings of the Graduate Program in Religious Studies. Books from the Estates of Sallie Frances Grimes and James Boone have strengthened holdings in Literature and in Mathematics. Individuals contributing substantial collections include John Igo and Ben Fitzgerald. Elizabeth Loch has given a fine Texana Collection of unique publications, and Florence Rosengren, the noted San Antonio bookseller, gave her Presentation Copy Collection to the Library. Dr. and Mrs. Joe L. Frost have given an endowed collection on Play Research.

Library Facilities & Equipment

Special spaces include an Auditorium with seating capacity for 125. It is equipped with a built-in sound system and video projection equipment. This facility hosts both UIW functions as well as presentations by guest speakers and organizations from on and off campus. The auditorium supports both traditional and multimedia presentations, and includes Internet connectivity, satellite downlink capabilities and cable television access. Library staff instructs students in Information Literacy skills, such as research techniques and the effective use of databases in a specially equipped Information Literacy classroom. An instructor’s computer and video projection equipment allow librarian instructors to demonstrate library resources. Twenty-five student computers allow for hands-on practice. Room 144 can also be used for Information Literacy demonstrations. It is also equipped for video conferencing. These rooms are also available to faculty and other presenters needing facilities with these capabilities for class-sized groups. Several conference and seminar rooms in the library provide space for students to engage in group study and discussion.

Special rooms are available specifically for doctoral students to do group work, write dissertations and to use computers equipped with special applications software. Study carrels located through the library are available for individual study, reading, reference and research space.

In addition to computers for database searching, library equipment available to students includes photocopy from print or any other kind of format, typewriters and multimedia materials including slide, microfilm and digital image. Photocopy machines are available on both main floors of the Library. Student Disabilities Services has provided adaptive technology that aids students with the processing of print materials and various writing needs. Access to the technology in Room 136 is available to those students who are registered with and are receiving services from the Student Disabilities Services Office.

The Reference desk is in the center of the first floor. The Reference Librarian is stationed there and should always be consulted for additional information on any of the topics discussed here and for assistance in locating desired information.

A CURRENT, VALIDATED UIW ID CARD MUST BE PRESENTED FOR BORROWING OF CIRCULATING MATERIALS.

Services

Library services include: reference, readers’ advisory, audiovisual materials, Information Literacy classes, bibliography compilation, circulation of books, electronic access, faculty reserves, Interlibrary Loan, photocopy, reserve of materials in use, seminar rooms, study spaces, TexShare cards, and resource sharing from most other libraries. The Library publishes its policies and procedures in the student Library Guide, topical library fact sheets and on its Homepage.

Library Human Resources

The staff is the most important library resource. The staff is eager to help all students attain their educational and professional goals. Please feel welcome and let the staff know how they can be of service to you

Office of Technology Training

The Office of Instructional Technology provides technology facilities, software, audiovisual equipment distribution and media production services in support of instruction and special events. The office also provides technology training to the Incarnate Word community.

The Office of Instructional Technology operates the Media Center, a computer lab with 50+ computers located in the basement of the Mabee Library. The Media Center is open to faculty, staff and students in support of their use of computer technology and instruction. In addition to standard software such as Microsoft Office, the lab provides access to specialized software programs to support student work in a variety of courses. This facility is open 7 days a week the entrance to the Media Center is on the south side of the library.

The Media Service Center also provides audiovisual equipment to classrooms and audio, digital graphic and video services to faculty and students. Students may request production services from the Multimedia Specialist. To check out equipment, however, an instructor must make a request in the student’s behalf. The Media Service Center has large format printing and scanning services and a room set aside for audio and video editing.

The Department of Instructional Technology offers classes in software applications including Microsoft Outlook, Access, PowerPoint and Publisher, Adobe Acrobat, SPSS and Blackboard. Classes are available for faculty, students and staff.

Training opportunities include:

For more information about training, the Media Center, and the Office of Instructional Technology go to http://support.uiwtx.edu/InstructionalTechnology/index.html