Writing about the library last week reminded me of the best feature of the University of Baltimore. During my three years there, I routinely used two facilities that extended the reach of my education beyond Charles Street.
The library provides extensive periodical collections available online. Using your library bar code, on the back of your student identification card, you can login to Research Port, which allows searching thousands of dissertation, journal, newspaper, and magazine titles through several dozen databases. Many of these articles can be viewed and printed without leaving your computer. And if they are not available online, nor physically in Langsdale, interlibrary loan can provide a scanned copy. These features make complex research simpler, even for the busiest student.
The second service I frequently used was interlibrary loan of books. All of the schools in the University System of Maryland, along with St. Mary's College of Maryland and Morgan State University, provide a single library system where books can be requested from any school and delivered to Langsdale within a few days. This vastly extends the resources available to the students at UB. And like Research Port, the library allows you to sign in and request materials online, having them ready when you next come to class.
I admit, I did not always use these tools for classroom purposes. Many of the articles and books I requested I read for pleasure or just to learn about something new. But the system always found me the material I was looking for.
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I'd agree that it is great to have the system where schools can exchange books... it cuts down on a lot of hassle trying to locate a source and actually get it. I know my time at Towson there was nont one and if anyother school had the book you needed you were SOL... but it's good tha more schools are adapting this system. Thank James!
I had a book delivered from UB to UMBC on Wednesday. It's awesome.
As a librarian, I think I can go out on a limb and say that using our services to get a book or article that you want to read is generally regarded as permissible. Sometimes we even go crazy and try to encourage people to read.
I find that encouraging. But the library staff at Langsdale (and other USM schools, to be sure) has always worked above and beyond what I expected to help me find something. They are amazing.
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