Office of Institutional Research and PlanningFacts and Figures
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Fall 2006
Facilities and Services
The University of Delaware Library includes the Morris Library, where the main collection is housed, three branch libraries located in Newark - the Agriculture Library, the Chemistry Library, and the Physics Library, and a fourth branch library - the Marine Studies Library in Lewes, Delaware.
The collections of the University of Delaware Library parallel the University's academic interests and support all disciplines. Books, periodicals, electronic journals, databases, microforms, government publications, and software, maps, manuscripts, media, and Internet access provide a major academic resource for the University of Delaware, the surrounding community, the State of Delaware, and the nation.
The University of Delaware Library is a depository library for U.S. government publications, a patent depository for U.S. patents and a repository for State of Delaware publications. Library staff members provide a wide range of services including reference assistance, circulation, interlibrary loan, instructional programs and assistance to users with disabilities.
The Morris Library, the main library where the main collection is housed, seats over 3,000 persons. The University of Delaware Library is a member of the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Research Libraries, CIRLA (the Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance), and PALINET through which it is connected online to OCLC, the Online Computer Library Center. For Library hours, call 302-831-BOOK or check the Library Web Site at:
| Size of Collections (2005/06) | |
| Books and bound periodicals | over 2,700,000 |
| Microforms | over 3,400,000 |
| Databases (titles in Databases list) | over 240 |
Current Journals and newspapers (accessible via the Full Text Databases and Electronic Journals lists) |
over 40,000 |
| Subject guides to Internet resources | over 105 |
| Use Statistics (2005/06) | |
| Items loaned | over 370,000 |
| Items used on site | over 240,000 |
| Individuals entering the Morris Library | nearly 760,000 |
| Hits on Library Web Site | over 52,000,000 |
In addition to seating more than 3,000 persons, the Morris Library provides wireless access in most areas, special purpose space for computer-based systems, more than 200 computer workstations accessible to users, more than 200 laptop connections for University of Delaware users to connect personal laptops (including all graduate student carrels), a current periodical reading room, self-service photocopiers, and microform reader/printers including a digital microform workstation. The Morris Library also provides a large reserve reading room, small research study rooms for which faculty may request use, a computing site, a GIS workstation, special equipment and areas to assist users with disabilities, a media area and viewing room, small group study rooms for student use, a handsome Special Collections area including an exhibition gallery, a reading room with a controlled environmental system for rare materials, and many other areas and services.
Electronic Library Resources
The University of Delaware Library provides online electronic access to networked and digital information including: journal article references and abstracts; full-text electronic articles; a full-text encyclopedia; government information; thousands of electronic journals; maps and many other items. Databases provide access to more than 230 networked databases for University of Delaware faculty, students, and staff. The Library Web Site is accessible at:
DELCAT is the University of Delaware Library online catalog and contains information about the library collection and also provides links to electronic journals and other resources. DELCAT may be accessed from anywhere in the world via the Web.
The Library Web Site serves as a gateway research tool and provides gateway access to electronic resources on the Web including electronic access to resources that are locally licensed for University of Delaware faculty, students, and staff only. The Library Web Site is also available from the University of Delaware Web Site (http://www.udel.edu/).
Source: University Library