Collection Overview

The primary mission of the University Libraries is to support the teaching and research missions of the University of Missouri - Kansas City; and, as the largest academic library system in the metropolitan area, the UMKC University Libraries are an essential information resource for Kansas City.

Information resources in all formats to support the UMKC undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs are located primarily in the Miller Nichols Library. Medical and health sciences related materials are held at the Health Sciences and Dental Libraries. Legal materials are located in the Law Library, administered by the School of Law. The UMKC on-site collections are supplemented by access agreements with libraries, consortia, and external databases and information systems.

The collections of the Miller Nichols Library include books, reports, reference materials, government publications, musical scores, sound recordings, and the periodicals and scholarly journals that are vital for current research at every academic level. Printed and electronic resources in all subject fields are collected. See New Titles Online for the latest list of new acquisitions.

In addition to current materials, retrospective holdings are collected. Major research resources are available in microforms, including American and British periodicals from the 18th to the 20th century; complete runs of major newspapers extending back to the 19th century; federal and congressional documents; education research reports (ERIC); and visual documentaries, such as the Index of American Design.

Electronic resources include Internet files, CD-ROM indexes, and other data files, including, Medline, Dialog, Wilsonline, LexisNexis, OCLC FirstSearch, RLIN/BIB, LexisNexis Academic, ACM Digital Library, Project Muse, and Project ARTFL. New online titles are announced in the “News and Events” section and are accessible from the list of online resources.

Housed in the Miller Nichols Library, the Specials Collections Department houses a number of collections, including the Snyder Collection of Americana, the Richard Bolling papers, the Paul Creston Collection, and the Marr Sound Archives. The department's collections offer marvelous research opportunities in many areas, especially music history, and particularly American music history and the history of American jazz. The music material includes manuscripts of the Midwest Center for the Study of American Music and other collections. The Marr Sound Archives is a collection of nearly 170,000 sound recordings in many formats and representing many genres, reflecting the American experience in recorded sound. The Archives' jazz collection encompasses all styles and movements of jazz, with a particular strength in traditional and big band jazz.