University of Alberta Library

Last updated
University of Alberta Library
University of Alberta Library
53°31′33″N113°31′26″W / 53.5259°N 113.5239°W / 53.5259; -113.5239
Location Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TypeAcademic library system of the University of Alberta
Branches8
Collection
Items collectedMore than 5.4 million books, 1.9 million e-books, including more than 140,000 scholarly ejournals, 806 online databases, 120,000 digitized books, 67,000 newspaper issues, and 20,000 images and maps
Size8,191,408
Access and use
Circulation461,204
Other information
DirectorDale Askey (Chief Librarian)
Website library.ualberta.ca

The University of Alberta Library is the library system of the University of Alberta.

Contents

The University of Alberta Library has 10 branches and divisions at the University of Alberta's Edmonton campuses and at University of Alberta Augustana Campus. [1]

As of September 2019, the Library's collection comprises more than 5.4 million titles and over 8 million volumes, including 140,000 scholarly ejournals, 1.92 million ebooks, 806 online databases, 120,000 digitized titles and 67,000 newspaper issues. The Library collection of 20,000 images and maps includes many records pertaining to the Canadian prairies. [2]

History

The University of Alberta was founded in 1908, but a free-standing library branch, Rutherford Library, did not open until 1951. [3] The university's founder, Alexander Cameron Rutherford, and its first president, Henry Marshall Tory, worked with faculty members and the first librarian, Eugenie Archibald, to select the first purchases to start the University Library in 1908. [4] The record of these first 200 selections is still housed in the University Archive and includes a set of the works of Edgar Allan Poe; fourteen volumes of the works of Washington Irving; and various works by Walter Scott, Jean Froissart, Henry Fielding, Charles Lamb, George Eliot, Edward Gibbon, T. B. Macaulay, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, John Richard Green, Henry Hallam, Tobias Smollett, Rudyard Kipling, and John Stuart Mill. [4] By the end of 1911, the Library had acquired more than 7,000 volumes. [4] By the end of Tory's tenure as president in 1928, the library owned 32,500 volumes. [4]

During the first few decades of the university's operations, library staff operated a small facility in the Main Teaching Building, or Arts Building, which had already become overcrowded by the 1930s. [3] In 1947, during the tenure of President Robert Newton (1941–50), [5] the university received approval from the provincial government to begin construction of a library building. [3] When construction was completed on Rutherford Library, it was the first new permanent building on campus in 30 years. [3]

Chief Librarians

Major Branches

Augustana

The Augustana Campus Library provides services and resources to support undergraduate students and teaching faculty at University of Alberta Augustana Campus. [11]

Bibliothèque Saint-Jean

Bibliothèque Saint-Jean supports the teaching and research programs of the University of Alberta Campus Saint-Jean in education, arts and social sciences, languages and literature, health sciences, natural sciences and business administration. [12]

Cameron Science & Technology Library

Cameron Science & Technology Library collections are focused on the faculties of Engineering, Science, and ALES (Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences). The library is also home to the William C. Wonders Map Collection and the Canadian Circumpolar Collection. [13]

Coutts Education and Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation Library (closed)

Herbert T. Coutts Library provides services and resources for the faculties of Education and Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. In June 2020, the permanent closure of the Coutts library was announced due to budget cuts. [14]

The galleria connecting Rutherford Library south (old building) and north (new addition) Interior view of Rutherford Library sky-lighted galleria.jpg
The galleria connecting Rutherford Library south (old building) and north (new addition)

Rutherford Humanities & Social Sciences Library

The Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library is the second largest research library in Canada and the biggest library at University of Alberta. [15]

Scott Health Sciences Library

The Health Sciences Library is located within the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre. Opened in 1984, it is named after the Dean of Medicine from 1948 to 1959. [16] [17] The Scott Health Sciences Library was closed on August 11, 2023 and will be replaced with the Geoffrey and Robyn Sperber Health Sciences Library which is set to open in Summer 2024, located on the Lower Level and Level 1 of Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA).

Weir Law Library

The Weir Library's research collection includes primary and secondary materials mostly from common law Anglo-American jurisdictions, although it does include some French language material from Quebec. The collection primarily contains material focused on common law, but also includes civil law material from Quebec, Scotland, and Louisiana. [18] The library's Canadian government documents collection includes parliamentary and legislative materials and administrative decisions from both the federal and provincial level.

Winspear Business Library (closed)

The Winspear Business Library is the primary information service library for the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta. In April 2020, the Chief Librarian announced the permanent closure of the Winspear Business Library due to budget cuts; Winspear officially closed on May 1, 2020. [19] Going forward, students and faculty at the Alberta School of Business will access services and resources through the Library's other locations.

Other Library Units

University of Alberta Archives

Located in the new Research & Collections Resource Facility on South Campus, the Archives holds 9,000 linear metres of permanently valuable records in University of Alberta history, including institutional records and private papers from people in the university community including alumni, employees, and students, as well as other organizations related to the university. [20] The Archives are designated a Class A Movable Cultural Property by the Government of Canada. [21]

Bruce Peel Special Collections

Bruce Peel Special Collections contains over 100,000 rare books and additional archival materials. [22] The Collections are designated a Class A Movable Cultural Property by the Government of Canada. [21]

Digital Scholarship Centre

The DSC is an academic centre located on the second floor of Cameron Library on the university's North Campus, which opened in September 2019. [23] 8,000 sq. feet centre is a hub for digital scholarship on campus and contains a virtual reality lab, a sound booth, 3D printing and scanning, gaming-quality computers, an Ideum touch table, a large-scale, multi-touch visualization wall, and collaboration work spaces. [23]

University of Alberta Press

Founded in 1969, the University of Alberta Press is a unit of the University of Alberta Library responsible for publishing scholarly books.

Storage shelving inside the RCRF University of Alberta Research and Collections Repository Facility.jpg
Storage shelving inside the RCRF

RCRF Depository Library

The Research & Collections Resource Facility (RCRF) facility was built to house the library's growing Depository Library and opened to the public in July 2018. [24] The facility provides storage for over 3.5 million items from the Library system that are not as often accessed by the university community. [25] The RCRF also contains the University of Alberta Archives and is the location for a new digitization centre in partnership with the Internet Archive. [26] RCRF is located near the Saville Community Sports Centre and University of Alberta Farm on South Campus. [27]

St. Joseph's College

The library is located in and provides services and resources for St Joseph's College, Edmonton. It is located in the basement of the college's east wing. The library houses 25,000 books as well as DVDs and other printed materials. The collection features materials on Christian theology, Catholic studies, ethics, the Bible, and philosophy. [28]

Partnerships and collaboration

The University of Alberta Library is a member of The Alberta Library, [29] the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, [30] the Association of Research Libraries, [31] and the NEOS Library Consortium. [32] The Library has a partnership with the Internet Archive, for the digitization and open access provision of material from across the university, including 22,000 master's and PhD theses, [33] highlights from the Bruce Peel Special Collections, and historic postcard and playbill collections. [34] Other Library partnerships include the Public Knowledge Project, [35] the HathiTrust, [36] and the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library. [37]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Calgary</span> Public research university in Canada

The University of Calgary is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being instituted into a separate, autonomous university in 1966. It is composed of 14 faculties and over 85 research institutes and centres. The main campus is located in the northwest quadrant of the city near the Bow River and a smaller south campus is located in the city centre. The main campus houses most of the research facilities and works with provincial and federal research and regulatory agencies, several of which are housed next to the campus such as the Geological Survey of Canada. The main campus covers approximately 200 hectares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmonton</span> Capital and second largest city of Alberta, Canada

Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchors the northern end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor", a region spanning between Edmonton and the city of Calgary, which includes the many smaller municipalities between the two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Alberta</span> Public research university in Alberta, Canada

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, the university's first president. It was enabled through the Post-secondary Learning Act. The university is considered a "comprehensive academic and research university" (CARU), which means that it offers a range of academic and professional programs that generally lead to undergraduate and graduate level credentials.

Chester Alvin Ronning was a Canadian educator, politician, and diplomat.

University of Alberta Press is a publishing house and a division of the University of Alberta that engages in academic publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The King's University (Edmonton)</span>

The King's University located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is a Canadian Christian university offering bachelor's degrees in the arts, humanities, music, social sciences, natural sciences, business, and education. King's is one of 26 publicly funded post-secondary institutions in Alberta. The University serves more than 900 students from across Canada and abroad, representing more than 16 nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Alberta Faculty of Law</span>

The University of Alberta Faculty of Law is the graduate school of law of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Established as an undergraduate faculty in 1912 it is the third oldest law school in Canada, and often considered the oldest law school in Western Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberta Legislature Building</span> Building in Alberta, Canada

The Alberta Legislature Building is located in Edmonton and is the meeting place of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and the Executive Council of Alberta. It is often shortened to "the Ledge".

The University of British Columbia Library is the library system of the University of British Columbia (UBC). The library is one of the 124 members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). In 2017, UBC Library ranked 29th among members of the ARL for the number of volumes in library, making it the third largest Canadian academic library after the University of Toronto and the University of Alberta. However, UBC Library ranked 23rd for the titles held and second in Canada, and had a materials expenditures of $13.8 million, placing it 44th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutherford House</span> Historic building in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Rutherford House is a historic building and museum in the Strathcona area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The structure was the home of the first Premier of Alberta, Alexander Cameron Rutherford, from 1911 to 1941, and has subsequently been designated as an Alberta provincial historic site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering</span>

The University of Alberta Faculty of Engineering is one of the largest engineering schools in Canada in terms of size, international impact, and reputation. The faculty is home to 1 Canada Excellence Research Chair, 16 Canada Research Chairs, 13 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council chairs, and 5 Foundation Supported Chairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Alexandra Hospital (Edmonton)</span> Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta

The Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) is a large and long serving hospital in the Canadian province of Alberta. Operated by Alberta Health Services and located north of Edmonton's downtown core, the Royal Alexandra serves a diverse community stretching from Downtown Edmonton to western and northern Canada. The total catchment area for the RAH is equivalent to 1/3 of Canada's land mass, stretching north from Downtown Edmonton to enpass both the Northwest Territories and Yukon territory, and stretching as far west as British Columbia's pacific coast.

The Augustana Campus is a faculty of the University of Alberta located in Camrose, Alberta, Canada. It was merged into the larger, Edmonton, Alberta-based University in 2004.

The Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at University of Alberta is located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1913, it is one of the oldest medical schools in Western Canada and is composed of 21 departments, two stand-alone divisions, 9 research groups, and 24 research centers and institutes. Educational, clinical and research activities are conducted in 29 buildings on or near the University of Alberta north campus.

The NEOS Library Consortium consists of 17 Canadian university, college, government, and hospital libraries with 49 sites between them. Patrons belonging to any NEOS library have seamless access to most of the substantial holdings shared by NEOS members. As of March 31, 2009, NEOS holdings were 10,867,551 volumes. The substantial additional holdings of electronic books, databases, and journals are not included because licensing arrangements often limit these to primary users of each library.

Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective is a Canadian artist collective based in Edmonton, Alberta with a mandate to develop innovative and experimental projects involving Indigenous artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret-Ann Armour</span> Scottish-born Canadian chemist (1939–2019)

Margaret-Ann Armour was a Scottish-born Canadian chemist based at the University of Alberta. She is best known for her expertise in developing guidelines for hazardous lab waste disposal, and for being a vocal advocate for women in science. Armour founded the Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) program, and served as the first and only Associate Dean of Science for Diversity at the University of Alberta. Among her many honors, she was named a member of the Order of Canada (2006), a 3M Teaching Fellow (1996) and a Canada 150 ambassador (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Whiskeyjack</span> Multidisciplinary artist

Lana Whiskeyjack is a multidisciplinary artist, writer and researcher known for her work exploring experiences of Cree identity in Western culture. She is featured in the documentary film Lana Gets Her Talk by Beth Wishart MacKenzie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wuaneita Society</span> Womens group at the University of Alberta

The Wauneita Society was a women's group at the University of Alberta from 1908 to 1973. For many decades, it functioned as a support system for the relatively few female students on campus. The group organized lectures, social events, and fundraisers, and eventually operated its own women-only study hall in the old Students' Union Building. The group's core traditions and identity were heavily appropriated from stereotypes of Cree culture, at a time in Canadian history when Indigenous communities were criminalized for practising their culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Peel Special Collections</span> Special collections unit of the University of Alberta Library

Bruce Peel Special Collections is a library in the University of Alberta Library system that includes more than 100,000 rare books and archival materials. The library is named for Bruce Braden Peel, chief librarian at the University of Alberta from 1955 to 1982.

References

  1. ↑ "About Us – UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  2. ↑ "Facts & Figures – UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Macleod, R. C.; McGuckin, Alexander James (2008). All true things : a history of the University of Alberta, 1908-2008. University of Alberta Libraries. Edmonton, Alta. : University of Alberta Press.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Johns, Walter H. (1981). A history of the University of Alberta, 1908-1969. Internet Archive. Edmonton [Alta.] : University of Alberta Press.
  5. ↑ "Robert Newton | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  6. ↑ Schoeck, Ellen (October 2006). I Was There: A Century of Alumni Stories about the University of Alberta, 1906–2006. University of Alberta. ISBN   978-0-88864-464-0.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Distad, N. Merrill (Norman Merrill), 1946- (2009). The University of Alberta Library : the first hundred years, 1908-2008. University of Alberta. Library. Edmonton: University of Alberta Libraries. pp. 81–155. ISBN   978-1-55195-245-1. OCLC   317743791.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Ernie Ingles | Faculty of Education". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  9. ↑ "Announcement Regarding the Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  10. ↑ "Announcing the New Vice-Provost (Learning Services) and Chief Librarian". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  11. ↑ "Augustana - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  12. ↑ "BSJ - Bibliothèques". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  13. ↑ "Cameron Library | NEOS" . Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  14. ↑ Lachacz, Adam (2020-06-04). "U of A closes Coutts Library; marks second library closure due to budget cuts". The Gateway. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  15. ↑ "Rutherford - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  16. ↑ Shores, Sandra (2004-12-01). "A glance back in time: Two decades at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library". Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. 25 (4): 103–105. doi: 10.5596/c04-041 . ISSN   1708-6892.
  17. ↑ "Health Sciences - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  18. ↑ "Law - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  19. ↑ "Winspear Business Library closes due to reduced provincial funding". The Gateway. 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  20. ↑ "Archives - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  21. 1 2 Heritage, Canadian (2017-08-24). "Designated organizations - Movable Cultural Property". aem. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  22. ↑ "BPSC Library". bpsc.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  23. 1 2 "Cameron Library's Digital Scholarship Centre now open". The Gateway. 2019-09-17. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  24. ↑ Quad, The (2017-07-25). "Building for Growth: The New Research and Collection Resource Facility (RCRF)". Medium. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  25. ↑ "New state-of-the-art U of A archival facility set to open". New state-of-the-art U of A archival facility set to open. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  26. ↑ "New in the Internet Archive: UAlberta's Growing Digital Collection – news.library.ualberta.ca" . Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  27. ↑ "RCRF - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  28. ↑ "St. Joseph's - UofA Libraries". www.library.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  29. ↑ "University of Alberta Libraries member page". The Alberta Library. 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  30. ↑ "About CARL > Members". Canadian Association of Research Libraries. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  31. ↑ "List of ARL Members". Association of Research Libraries. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  32. ↑ "NEOS Member Libraries | NEOS" . Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  33. ↑ Price, Gary (26 March 2019). "Report: University of Alberta Libraries is Digitizing More Than 14,000 Master's and PhD Thesis (in Partnership with Internet Archive)". LJ infoDOCKET. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  34. ↑ "New in the Internet Archive: UAlberta's Growing Digital Collection – news.library.ualberta.ca". 27 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  35. ↑ "Development Partners | Public Knowledge Project" . Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  36. ↑ "Member Community | www.hathitrust.org | HathiTrust Digital Library". www.hathitrust.org. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  37. ↑ "Participating institutions | Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library". www.lhcadl.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-07.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.