Library Facts
- In a year more than 2,300,000 patrons enter the libraries and more than 20,000 research help questions are answered.
- The Library's William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections houses extensive archives including those of Bertrand Russell and a noteworthy collection of eighteenth-century literature.
- The combined collections of the libraries total more than 1.9 million print and electronic books, 86,000 print and electronic journal titles, and 14,000 linear feet of archival resources.
- General collection strengths support the research and teaching strengths of the University. Particular areas of emphasis include Biology, British History, Business, Chemistry, Classics, Economics, Engineering, English Literature, Geography & Earth Sciences, Health Sciences (with particular emphasis on problem-based self-directed methods of teaching and learning), Maps, Nuclear Physics and Religious Studies.
- The libraries acquire print, non-print, and electronic materials from multiple sources. The acquisitions budgets for the University Library and Health Sciences Library are funded separately, and materials are ordered, received and processed independently as well.
- The libraries participate in a number of consortial projects including CRKN (Canadian Research Knowledge Network) and OCUL (Ontario Council of University Libraries) for digital content.
- The libraries use the Sierra library management system from Innovative to manage cataloguing, circulation, and acquisitions, and Encore to power the search functionality of our public catalogue.
