August 27, 2007

TO: New Faculty and Academic Staff

FROM: Anita Evans, Library Director (5-8805; evans.anit@uwlax.edu )

RE: UW-L Murphy Library Resources in Support of Instruction and Research

Welcome to UW-La Crosse!

This website developed by Stefan Smith, Outreach Librarian, will introduce you to many of the resources and services available at Murphy Library. We also invite you to visit the Library for a firsthand look at the Library’s facility and resources and to make a  House Call appointment for a more in depth look at the wealth of information and services available in the Library or through the Library’s web pages. Please note that under Quick Links, there are web pages designed specifically for faculty.

Over the last year all of us in the Library have been working on redesigning building spaces for every kind of learner. You will find on the first floor a new Collaborative Learning Information Commons where students can work together in groups using tablet PCs checked out at the circulation desk. Another exciting development is a café, Murphy’s Mug, which opened just after spring break last year. Murphy’s Mug, just around the corner from the entrance, features Caribou Coffee products and light refreshments. It’s a great environment for you to meet with colleagues or students.

Beyond those resources which reside or are made available electronically in Murphy Library, you can easily access research materials across UW System Libraries. Through the Library’s interlibrary loan system, ILLiad, electronic documents are delivered to your desktop. Within the Library’s Endeavor catalog is a borrowing module which allows you to directly request books from other University of Wisconsin campuses. Also, a growing number of digitized resources are available locally and through the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.

Librarians and staff have developed a number of services to help you and your students identify relevant materials. When you search the catalog, you will see a  New Materials tab:  you can select criteria and generate a list of new acquisitions matching your specifications. Schedule information literacy classes for your students to help build their critical thinking and library research skills or find a course reserves form on the forms web page.

Librarians work closely with faculty to select books, periodicals and other formats for the Library’s collection. We invite you to partner with us and work with your department library liaison to identify key materials that support academic programs.

Again, welcome. Do not hesitate to let any of us know how we can assist you in providing information resources, in various formats, for your teaching and research.