Research & Instruction Services

General Information

Mission: To ensure that library collections and information services actively support the current research and instructional needs of the University community; that the University community is fully informed about these collections and services; that the University community has access to training opportunities in the use of these collections and services; and that the University community is provided with timely, accurate, and convenient reference service.

Hours (please call the Hours Line at 860.486.4636 for last minute updates to the schedule)
Library Information: 860.486.4636
Reference Services: 860.486.2513
Online Reference Help

Reference and Information

Research and Instruction Services (RIS) is responsible for providing general information and reference assistance both in person and by telephone. RIS is also responsible for providing specialized reference and research assistance from within the main reference area and at the Map and Geographic Information Center, the Art & Design Library, the Music & Dramatic Arts Library, and the Pharmacy Library. Service Desk schedules vary; see Hours for more information.

Instruction

RIS provides library educational services including basic library instruction, specialized bibliographic instruction, and instruction in electronic information access. For more information, contact your Library Liaison or the Information Literacy Instruction Group. To electronically request course-related instruction, use the Instruction Request form.
Library Instruction Spaces are available to faculty via Library Liaison and Library Staff only. See Classroom Policies and Procedures for more information.
Department staff also create, maintain, and revise library guides, maps, handouts and instructional aids according to user needs.

Academic Liaison Program

RIS librarians are significantly engaged in a proactive liaison program to academic departments and perform collection development responsibilities in these and other subject areas.

Undergraduate Services

RIS coordinates the Libraries' participation in undergraduate outreach programs including those developed in conjunction with the University's Office for Undergraduate Education, the Institute for Teaching and Learning, the Instructional Resource Center, the Admissions Office, Residential Life, Student Activities, the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes, and other groups and programs which target the undergraduate experience. RIS also coordinates the Libraries' participation in University sponsored events directed at the undergraduate population: Admissions Open House programs, Parent Information Expos, Admissions Orientation, Weeks of Welcome, Residential Life orientation sessions, and others.

Collections

RIS oversees the Federal Documents Depository Program and accompanying collections, develops the Connecticut documents depository collection, and manages the reference microform collection and the general reference collection. RIS staff are responsible for maintaining the collections and the range of services provided at the Map and Geographic Information Center, the Art & Design Library, the Music & Dramatic Arts Library, and the Pharmacy Library.

Special Libraries

Art & Design Library
The Art & Design Library at the University of Connecticut is one of the largest public art libraries in the state. Organized as a subject collection in September 1979, the art library is one of several UConn special libraries located at Storrs. The library features a reading room with ample, natural light and boasts one of the most expansive and picturesque views of the UConn campus. The Art & Design Library, located on Level 2 (North) of the Homer Babbidge Library, houses collections which focus upon the visual arts. This includes materials in applied and decorative arts, architecture, art history, garden history and design, graphic design, landscape architecture, photography, studio arts, and many other art-related subjects.
Map & Geographic Information Center (MAGIC)
The University of Connecticut's Map & Geographic Information Center is an on-line library of digital geo-spatial data. The Map Library, located on Level 4 of the Homer Babbidge Library, is a collection of over 150,000 maps, 20,000 aerial photographs, microforms, atlases and reference books. The library has range of equipment for use by the faculty, students and staff of the University such as a light table, a flatbed scanner, and a large-format black & white copier.

Music & Dramatic Arts Library
The Music & Dramatic Arts Library was established by the University of Connecticut Music Department in the 1930s, and today is an official component of the University Libraries Research and Information Services Area. Numbering over 50,000 volumes, the collection supports a wide variety of music programs in the School of Fine Arts, although use of the collection is extended to the University, community, and state. The Music & Dramatic Arts Library, located in the Fine Arts Complex of the Storrs campus, houses most of the University Libraries' materials relating to the subject of music and dramatic arts, including Music History, Theory and Composition, Performance, Music Education, Musical Theater, Jazz, Ethnic Music (Ethnomusicology), Music Psychology (Psychomusicology and Music Therapy).

Pharmacy Library
The Pharmacy library supports the information and research needs of the students, faculty and alumni of the School of Pharmacy and related areas. Located on the second floor of the Pharmacy/Biology Building on the Storrs Campus, the Pharmacy Library has collections of books, journals and media related to research in our primary subject specialties, including pharmacy practice, pharmacology, toxicology, medicinal chemistry, pharmacognosy, immunology, and pharmaceutical sciences.

This page is maintained by Kate Fuller.