Supporting Our Campus’s Research and Recreational Needs

Whether we are helping you track down a book or article you need or maybe we are presenting to your class or at one of our webinars, the library strives to support the research and creative activities on campus, no matter what level. Recently the library has increased its support of these activities through its reorganization of librarian duties, hosting webinars and highlighting ones from our partners and other professional organizations or products (see our calendar for upcoming events), and adding some additional resources like Mango Languages and Covidence.

We are also prioritizing our digital subscriptions over buying physical items to support all of our campus community, from those who are on campus every day to those who never set foot on campus, as well as to alleviate some budget concerns. To aid in this effort you can install a browser extension called LibKey Nomad that will connect you to the library journal and ebook subscriptions even when they aren’t using library databases. And don’t forget to connect the library to Google Scholar and use our interlibrary loan services - you should never have to pay for access to an article.

On the flip side the library also tries to support some of our campus community’s recreational needs as well. When it comes to leisure reading, we create topical displays to highlight sections of our collection (check out this month’s “Celebrating Black Writers,” “Common Read Read-Alikes,” and “Blind Date with a Book”) and curate a Browsing Collection of new and popular fiction, nonfiction, and local interest books (if you have suggestions for titles to purchase, let us know). We also have partnered with the UM-Ann Arbor Library to subscribe to Overdrive and the Libby app to supplement our collections with ebooks and audiobooks.

The library is an excellent third space for those who need somewhere to hang out between classes or to get some serious work done, with a variety of spaces and views to check out. And don’t forget that the Mid-Michigan Therapy Dogs are coming for a visit on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 12:30!