Your Library: An Introduction

Many people consider the library the heart of a campus. At UMSL, we are a primary hub of research and learning for students, faculty, and staff. We facilitate access to essential research materials, teach students how to find and evaluate sources, provide study spaces, and more.

Before we jump into the nitty-gritty of research, it’s important to understand the library’s role on campus and how we can support you during your time UMSL (and maybe, beyond).

What do libraries do?

As we’ve covered already, the “information landscape” is enormous and complex. It includes people, organizations, print and digital materials, and the systems that link them together. When you do research, you navigate this complicated network to find the specific information you need.

A university library has several roles in supporting this process:

1. Collecting and providing access to reliable materials that are relevant to the research needs of our students and faculty. We purchase books, we subscribe to databases, and we recommend reputable free online resources. We can’t buy everything (and we don’t have space for it), so we focus our efforts on the assignments and research endeavors of our UMSL community.
2. Guiding students and faculty on how to find materials and navigate library search tools. We visit classes, we host workshops, we hold one-on-one research appointments, we create online guides and tutorials, and more. And, we teach this class!
3. Providing space for individual and group work on school assignments, research activities, and more. The library building at UMSL is in the final stages of an exciting renovation. When everything is completed, we’ll have open work spaces, computers, study rooms, a floor for silent study, and an information desk to help you navigate or answer other research questions. Many of these spaces are open already!

Facilitating access, helping patrons use and evaluate materials, and providing space are the major goals of any library, whether it’s an academic library (in other words, at a college/university), a public library, a K-12 school library, or one of many “special” libraries (for example, a medical library). They provide an essential service in a world where information is complex, often expensive, and possibly inaccurate.

What materials does a university library have?

We have more than you think! The specific materials a library owns differ by library and the needs of their college/university. Most of our materials are:

• Books (print and digital)
• Academic journal articles (print and digital)
• Newspapers (online or on a special preservation material called microfilm)
• Special print materials like music scores or government documents
• Other digital materials accessible through online databases (including primary sources, streaming video or audio, and more)

Many libraries also have special collections – usually older documents, photographs, and other materials that require special care – related to the unique focus of their library or institution. At UMSL, there are multiple libraries that share one building, and two of them hold unique special collections. (See more detail below!)

Library materials: are they free?

Although books, articles, and other library materials are usually free to patrons, most of them are not free to the library. If patrons tried to access them outside the library, they would cost money (often a LOT of money, especially resources for academic research).

We talk more about the “information economy” – who profits from limiting and selling access to information – in Week 6. For now, we want to introduce few concepts:

1. Paywall. If you try to access most academic research materials online – for example, scholarly books and articles – outside of your library access, you’ll hit a paywall. For example, you may see a screen asking you to pay $30 for individual access to one academic article. Don’t pay this fee! Instead, reach out to the library to see if we already pay for access to this item. We can even often get access through other libraries if we don’t have it ourselves.
2. Open access (OA). Some materials are available for free online. There is a growing movement to make scholarly research (and other materials) available for free. Again, we talk more about OA in Week 6.
3. Open educational resources (OER). OER are free resources created by educators to support student learning. They replace traditional costly textbooks. We are building an OER in this class! As the class progresses, we are publishing most of the week’s content online so that you and future students can access the material for free. Part of your final project will involve a small contribution (anonymous, if you wish) to this resource. Like OA, the OER movement is an exciting and steadily growing movement to made education more affordable and accessible.

Libraries at UMSL

Though we share the same building, there are actually three libraries on the UMSL campus. Knowing the basics about each one will help you navigate our resources.

Thomas Jefferson Library (TJ)

TJ is the main campus library. Your instructors are both reference librarians at TJ Library. We provide access to print and digital materials to support UMSL students, faculty, and staff, we schedule research appointments, we work with different departments on campus, and we provide work space in the library building.

Important TJ Library Services

The library offers several crucial services to support research and learning on our campus.

Research Appointments

Meet with an UMSL Librarian either in person or over Zoom. We meet with students at all stages for a variety of research needs or questions. We help students adjust their research topics, navigate library search tools, and choose which resources are best for their project. You can schedule an appointment based on availability or select the librarian assigned to your subject area.

Other Research Help

You can also get research help by visiting the Public Service Desk (we even have librarians available on most weekends) or using the online chat. Find the chat by visiting our website and looking in the lower-right corner. The chat is best for quicker questions rather than in-depth research help. It is NOT a bot: real librarians are available to assist you!

Events

We host a combination of fun events and workshops to level up your research skills. Visit the calendar on our website for details.

Interlibrary Loan

If we don’t have access to something you need, we can help you get it (at no cost) from another library. There are two options to make requests:

1. MOBIUS. MOBIUS is a consortium of academic, public, and research libraries that work together to share materials. You can search for print books on the MOBIUS search, then log in to request specific items. You’ll receive an email notification when the item is at the TJ Library front desk for pickup.
2. Interlibrary loan. For articles or books not available through MOBIUS. Fill out the online request form, then keep an eye on your UMSL email address. Digital materials will come in as a scanned PDF. Print materials will be sent to the TJ Library front desk for pickup.

The St. Louis Mercantile Library

The Mercantile Library is the oldest general library in continuous existence west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1846, it relocated to the UMSL campus in 1998 from its original home in downtown St. Louis.

The Mercantile is a research library with collections concentrated on Western Expansion and the history, development, and growth of the St. Louis region and of the American rail and river transportation experiences. You can find the Mercantile on the lower two floors of the library building under the signature glass pyramid. UMSL students are welcome to schedule appointments with Mercantile curators for specialized research assistance and access materials (again, by appointment) in the Reading Room. Also, keep an eye out for the opening of the new art gallery on Level 2 of the library building. Along with the Mercantile’s exhibit space on Level 1, the gallery will host rotating showcases of the library’s unique holdings.

State Historical Society – St. Louis

The St. Louis Research Center of the Missouri State Historical Society is hosted on Level 2 of the library building. Their holdings trace the evolution of greater St. Louis through unique collections that document important groups ranging from labor organizations to environmental activists. They preserve the diverse history of the city and its surrounding area within a statewide context. Reach out to them for research help on St. Louis-specific topics!