Library FAQ for New Faculty
Welcome to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The librarians and staff
of the University Libraries are here to assist you in any way possible. A
subject specialist librarian is assigned to work with each department and school
at
UMKC to facilitate faculty access to library collections and services.
The
subject specialist librarian is your guide to all library services: library instruction class sessions tailored to your teaching objectives; individual research consultations for you and your students to identify information resources for research at
UMKC; other libraries on the Web;
library collections - to identify materials needed for your courses or research
that must be purchased for the Libraries' collections; and other information
support you require.
Following are some Frequently Asked Questions that incorporate tips
on efficient use of library services with links to the
UMKC University Libraries' website (http://library.umkc.edu/).
For questions not listed here, please contact your
subject specialist
librarian or me directly. Please feel free to contact me about anything
that would improve library services for
UMKC faculty.
My colleagues and I look forward to working with you and your students.
Elizabeth Henry
Assistant Director for Public Services
(816-235-1530)
The
UMKC University Libraries operate in three sites: the
Miller Nichols Library, the main library on the Volker campus; and two locations on the Hospital Hill campus: the
Health Sciences Library and the
Dental Library. The School of Law maintains the
Leon E. Bloch Law Library. The Libraries provide information and reference services, library instruction, checkout of library materials, reserve services and access to online resources. The nearby
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology (http://www.lhl.lib.mo.us/) is a private, independently-funded research library for science, engineering, and technology.
Miller Nichols Library
800 E. 51st Street
(816) 235-1526 |
Health Sciences Library
2411 Holmes
(816) 235-1880 |
Dental Library
650 E. 25th Street
(816) 235-2030 |
Leon E. Bloch Law Library
52nd and Oak Streets
(816) 235-1650 |
Library hours vary during the regular academic year and intersession; please
refer to the current schedule:
Your
UMKC photo
ID is all you need to check out books, sound recordings, reserve readings and other library materials. A state- or federal-issue photo
ID (e.g. driver's license) is acceptable. Generally, books circulate to faculty for one semester. Consult the section on Circulation Policies for the
Miller Nichols Library, the
Health Sciences Library, and the
Dental Library. At the Miller Nichols Library,
proxy borrowing privileges for enrolled student assistants of full-time faculty are available.
There are charges for materials that are not returned or are lost or damaged. Please consult the Circulation Policies for the
Miller Nichols Library, the
Health Sciences Library, the
Dental Library, and the
Leon E. Bloch Law Library for the appropriate schedule of fines/charges. Please report any mishap to the library as quickly as possible.
You can check to see what books and materials are checked out under your name by selecting the
My Library Account tab in MERLIN. You can renew books online through your library account in MERLIN. Books can also be renewed over the phone by calling Access Services at the appropriate Library.
- Miller Nichols: (816) 235-1526
- Health Sciences: (816) 235-1880
- Dental: (816) 235-2030
The
MERLIN integrated library system is the online catalog for
UMKC and the other University of Missouri campuses: Columbia, Rolla and St. Louis. MERLIN is accessible from the
Libraries website. There is a MERLIN navigational button on each Library website page. You can use MERLIN:
- to find information on library holdings
- to check on the expected receipt date of periodical issues
- to view your personal checkout record
- to request books from another campus or MOBIUS system library (a paperless interlibrary loan request)
- to view the library reserve list for your courses
- to link to consortially-acquired online resources.
Hint: To save retyping citations for your bibliography, you can email information found in the MERLIN online catalog to your UMKC account, or download it to a local floppy disk.
For more information about the MERLIN Library Catalog, consult MERLIN Library Catalog
information and guides.
Online information resources include databases with bibliographic and other information (graphics and links); full-text and e-journals, datasets and reference materials such as encyclopedias. A single link from the Libraries' website will access most databases both on- and off-campus. For remote access, after selecting a database,
UMKC students, faculty and staff will be prompted to provide a Single-Sign-On user name and password or a 9-digit
UMKC ID number followed by the letter k (example: 0123456789k) and last name, as needed. A few databases are only available in the Libraries. The Libraries maintain a
comprehensive list of all databases and online resources available.
Faculty can inquire within their departments about activating their
UMKC accounts. Please also encourage your students to activate their accounts in the Information Services Computer Lab in the Miller Nichols Library (3rd Floor) or any other
IS Computer Lab on campus.
The
UMKC University Libraries provide online access to a number of library and union catalogs that may be used to locate materials, either in the
UMKC University Libraries or elsewhere:
- The MERLIN Library Catalog provides access to information on the holdings of all libraries in the University of Missouri system.
- The MOBIUS Union Catalog provides access to information on the holdings of college and university libraries throughout Missouri, including many in Kansas City. As a UMKC student, you can borrow books directly from other MOBIUS libraries using your UMKC faculty photo ID.
- The UMKC University Libraries listing of local library catalogs provides access to information on the holdings of nearby institutions such as the University of Kansas Libraries and Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology. Through the UMKC University Libraries' Courtesy Card Program, students can obtain privileges at other academic/research libraries in the Kansas City area, including Linda Hall Library and the KU Libraries. For further information, visit the Courtesy Card webpage, or call Miller Nichols Library Access Services at (816) 235-1526
Information on the holdings of other libraries worldwide may be found by using
online resources such as
WorldCat and
the
Center for Research Libraries (
CRL)
(http://catalog.crl.edu) union catalogs.
Materials may be placed on reserve for classes at the four Libraries sites, the Music/Media Library in Miller Nichols Library and electronically at
http://kc-eres.kc.umkc.edu.ezproxy.mnl.umkc.edu/. For more information, contact the Miller Nichols Library Access Services Department or the specific
UMKC University Library. Your reserve list can be accessed on MERLIN, listed by your name or the course title and number. You can also view a list of reserve materials at the Miller Nichols Library Circulation Desk.
Reference services are available at all University Libraries:
Miller Nichols Library, the
Health Sciences Library, the
Dental Library and the
Leon E. Bloch Law Library. To request reference help outside regular hours, fill out the online
UMKC Libraries Reference Form, which is emailed directly to the Reference Department. A reference librarian will reply the next day or sooner. For more pressing needs, please call the appropriate service desk within each Library. See the
University Libraries homepage for phone numbers and addresses. You can also leave a message at the Reference Desk of either the Miller Nichols Library at (816) 235-1534 or the Health Sciences Library at (816) 235-1885.
Librarians offer course-related library instruction sessions covering online and print resources for
UMKC courses that require a research component. To schedule a library instruction session, contact
Diane Hunter,
MNL Head of Reference and Instruction at (816) 235-1537,
Sue Sykes Berry,
HSL Library Instruction Librarian at (816) 235-1874 or the
subject specialist librarian assigned to work with your department or school. The University Libraries website provides online
guides designed to facilitate self-paced research in various subject areas.
If needed materials are not held by the University Libraries, the Library will try to borrow or photocopy the material from another library through interlibrary loan. Requested items may be available in as few as three days or as many as 21. Every effort is made to ensure the shortest possible receipt time. Materials may be requested online using the
Interlibrary Loan Request Form. Faculty and students may also request books at another MERLIN/MOBIUS library in Missouri by using MERLIN's "patron-initiated-borrowing system," a paperless
ILL system.
For additional information on interlibrary loan policies, please visit the Interlibrary Loan page for one of the
University Libraries:
Faculty may submit online requests for materials to be purchased for the
University Libraries' collections. Use the
University Libraries
Purchase Request Form in the
Forms and Requests section of the Libraries' website. Please be sure to select your
academic unit so the request is forwarded to the appropriate subject specialist
librarian. Faculty also may submit screen printouts of entries from the
Books
in Print online database.
Faculty should consult the instructions for making
requests
to purchase library material, and also may contact their
subject
specialist librarian for information on ordering library materials. The
order deadline for the fiscal year is February 1. For further information about collection policies, please contact
Brenda Dingley, Assistant Director for Technical Services at (816) 235-2226.
An online new book shelf known as
University Libraries New Titles is posted on the 15th of each month on the Libraries' website. The New Titles page includes newly-cataloged videos and sound recordings in the Music/Media Library in the Miller Nichols Library, and new materials in the Health Sciences/Dental Libraries and the Law Library.
The
UMKC University Libraries' home page can be found at http://library.umkc.edu/. Be sure to check out the website for general information about library services, collections and hours,
Forms and Requests (purchase request, interlibrary loan, reference request, request for library instruction session, and a suggestion form), access to local
UMKC and consortial online
databases, access to library
subject guides (including lists of subject-specific print and web-based information resources), a monthly listing of
newly-cataloged books, and updates about new services and major collection resources such as
Online exhibits and Digitization Projects. Also on the Website: links to
MERLIN,
MOBIUS and other
local library catalogs.
Ikon Office Solutions operates a
copy services area on the east side of the 1st floor of the Miller Nichols Library.
Two Adaptive Workstations equipped for use by patrons with sight impairment
are located in the Miller Nichols Library
Information Commons. They
may be used for gaining access to MERLIN, online periodical indexes, and
web information sources, as well as for scanning printed material. For more
information, contact
Diane Hunter, MNL Head of Reference and Instruction, at (816) 235-1537.
The University Libraries are a selective Federal Depository Library, one
of two designated for the 5th U.S. Congressional District in Missouri. The
Government Publications collection and workstations are located in the Reference
Department, Miller Nichols Library. In addition, the Miller Nichols Library
receives many State of Missouri publications. The Leon E. Bloch Law Library is a selective
depository for the State of Kansas. For more information, contact
Christine
Angolia, Government Publications Reference Librarian, at (816) 235-1877.
UMKC is a member of the
Inter-University
Consortium for Political and Social Research (www.icpsr.umich.edu/) - an academic partnership between the Institute for Social Research at the University
of Michigan and over 200 colleges and universities in the United States and
abroad. The
UMKC coordinator is
Phyllis
Schmidt, Reference Specialist (816-235-1281), who can assist
you and offer training sessions for your students and classes. The
UMKC Information
Services Department works closely with the Libraries in providing computer
support for using the datasets.
UMKC is an associate member of the
Center
for Research Libraries (www.crl.edu) - an academic research
library consortium in Chicago with members from over 125 universities and
colleges in the United States. Materials at
CRL may be
borrowed for one semester using interlibrary loan. A link to the
CRL
online library catalog (http://catalog.crl.edu/search/X) is also on
the MERLIN search page. For more information about
CRL services,
contact
Elizabeth Henry, Assistant Director for Public Services.
The Kansas City metropolitan region is served by many large public library
systems, including the
Kansas City Public
Library (www.kcpl.lib.mo.us/),
Johnson
County Public Library (www.jocolibrary.org),
Kansas
City, Kansas, Public Library (www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/), and the
Mid-Continent
Public Library (www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/). Try these great public libraries
first. If family members need access to academic materials that are unavailable
to them through the public libraries, they may join the
Friends
of the Library or the
Community Information
Program. Both programs require annual membership fees.
For any questions about library services or collections, please contact
Elizabeth Henry, Assistant Director for Public Services, or a
subject specialist librarian.
MERLIN Catalog