The Association of Research Libraries recently ranked the University of Tennessee libraries 16th out of 68 publicly supported university libraries.
“There are about 123 libraries in the United States and Canada that are part of ARL,” said Laura Purcell, information specialist. “Libraries have to meet certain criteria in order to join (ARL), so it is a very prestigious group to be a part of. To be ranked in the top 40 of that elite group is a great, great honor for UT. Students truly have an amazing resource at their fingertips.”
According to Purcell, the university libraries have increased their expenditures more than 50 percent in the last decade, which is a major contributing factor to the ranking. The money goes to books, databases and a wide variety of other resources.
“ARL considers five key factors in compiling its rankings each year: total number of volumes held; gross number of volumes added; number of subscriptions to current journals, magazines, newspapers and other periodicals; total expenditures; and the number of professional and support staff,” said Purcell.
One major stigma about libraries is that they are just places to hold books. However, the University of Tennessee libraries have many other functions.
“The UT libraries offer reference and instructional services, public and cultural programs, technological and media resources, subject liaisons in a variety of disciplines and promote information literacy,” said Purcell. “With the creation of the Commons and integration of multimedia services like the Studio, I think the libraries are defying that undeserved stigma.”
Dean of Libraries Barbara Dewey concurred, saying there is much more to the University of Tennessee libraries that students are not aware of. There are many new innovations to the libraries as well, she said.
Purcell mentioned one major service that is underused by students that might seem obvious: the librarians. There are librarians for many different disciplines and fields of studies that could prove useful when researching a certain subject for a research paper or project, she said.
“Another thing to remember about the libraries is that we are more than just Hodges,” Purcell said. “Hoskins Library has our Special Collections, University Archives and Map Library. The music building houses the music library, and the ‘AgVetMed’ library is located in the vet school building. These wonderful libraries have more specialized collections and lots of helpful employees to assist students and faculty with all their research questions.”
Finding something specific in one of the university’s libraries can be daunting, especially on first visit, but there are also services to aid students in this regard as well, Purcell said. Tutorial workshops to help gain a better knowledge of the library can be found at http://www.lib.utk.edu/instruction/workshop/.
“The libraries are (also) a source of great free entertainment,” said Purcell. “Beyond books and computers, we show wonderful films in our Film Movement (series) and documentaries in the library’s series (and) bring in a slew of great authors and creative people for Writers in the Libraries, Center for Childrens and Young Adult Literature events, the Special Collections Lecture Series and more. Events in the libraries are always free.”
For more information on the University of Tennessee libraries, check out the libraries’ official Web site at http://www.lib.utk.edu.