<General Information<Academic Services and Support

Samuel Johnson once remarked that "the greatest part of a writer's time is spent reading; in order to write, a man will turn over half a library to make one book." This makes it easy to see why York's five libraries are at the intellectual heart of the University; we provide essential support for York's teaching, learning and research activities. The largest of our libraries, Scott Library, holds our major collections in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. The Scott Library building also houses the Clara Thomas Archives, Special Collections, the Map Library, and the Sound and Moving Image Library. In addition to Scott, the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library, the Steacie Science and Engineering Library, and the Law Library are all located on the Keele campus. The Leslie Frost Library supports the curriculum and research on the Glendon campus in both French and English. All told, these libraries contain over 6.5 million items including books, periodicals, theses, archival materials, microforms, maps, films, videos, CDs, DVDs - even a skeleton.

Professional librarians are available in all these locations to assist with research needs. Assistance is available in person as well as by e-mail, telephone, and live Web chat. Instruction in library use and research methods is also offered by librarians in course-specific sessions and through general drop-in workshops. These classes provide an introduction to selecting and narrowing a research topic; finding books, scholarly journal articles, and Internet materials; critically evaluating information; and using it ethically. Students who attend these "information literacy" classes are better equipped to earn higher grades and, more importantly, to engage themselves as active learners in their courses and beyond.

The libraries have made both collections and services accessible on the Web. The libraries' Web site is available 24 hours a day at http://www.library.yorku.ca. In addition to standard online services such as book renewal, hold, and transfer requests, our site functions as a unique gateway to more than 17,000 full-text electronic scholarly journals and other electronic resources including e-books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, subject pathfinders, government documents, datasets and image collections. The libraries also provide RefWorks®, a premier Web-based citation management program. All these licensed "e-resources" can be used online by students and researchers with a valid library card from home or elsewhere beyond the library buildings. For additional information on how to access our resources remotely, please consult http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/Home/eResources/RemoteAccess.htm.

Even in this increasingly computer-mediated research environment, our print collections remain an important component of the resources to which we provide access. Because the libraries exist to meet the information and research needs of the whole York University community, borrowing regulations are essential to ensuring fair access to collections, services, and facilities. These regulations include the designation of specific loan periods, restrictions on the circulation of certain library materials, the definition of borrower privileges and responsibilities, and the definition of access to and the use of library services and facilities. Privileges are granted subject to users' continuing adherence to established library regulations. For more information, please see http://www.library.yorku.ca/Home/About/Policies/LendingCode.htm.

We welcome you to the libraries and we encourage frequent visits, whether you come to read at a carrel, debate with classmates in a group study room, or search a database through our Web site. Librarians and other library staff members are here to help studenst (and all researchers) get the most out of the libraries: do ask us for help-we might save you considerable time and frustration!