The purpose of the collection is to provide the necessary resources to support the teaching, learning and research needs of the faculty, staff and students at Durham College (DC) and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in accordance with the course offerings of both institutions. As feasible, the individual research initiatives and projects of faculty are also supported.
The collection is comprised of books, e-books, audiovisual resources (housed in Media Services), periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers), government documents, statistics, legal cases and statutes, and special collection items. As of June 2006, there were approximately 73,000 books on the shelf, 15,000 e-books, and indexing was provided through various electronic databases for thousands of periodicals with over 30,000 of the titles available in full text. Paper periodicals account for 400 of these titles; the remainder are presented electronically. E-resources can be accessed both on and off campus through the Library's websites (DC and UOIT). To assist people with the research process, the Reference Librarians have evaluated and compartmentalized many of the Library's materials into Subject Guides. Recommended websites are included in these guides too.
There is a Special Collections Room (also Silent Study) on the Library's third floor and the Archives is housed on the lower level (by appointment only). The Library is investigating the digitization of selected items belonging to these two areas and plans to launch its own version of D-Space in the coming months. D-Space has other Library applications as well (e.g. institutional repository for faculty research).
The Teacher Resource Centre, also located on the lower level, is a specialized library space that houses a collection that mirrors the breadth and depth of resources found in a typical medium-sized elementary school, and the services offered at a district Learning Resource Centre. While the key audience is the Faculty of Education Primary-Junior teacher candidates, the Centre is open to all members of the Campus Community.
As well, the Library has an active Reserve collection located on the first floor behind the Circulation Desk. The intent is for Faculty to bring certain items (from the Library's collection or personal copies) to the attention of students for a short time frame while insuring equitable access to these resources. The Library has launched E-Reserves through RefShare, a component within our online bibliographic citation manager, RefWorks.
To search the Library's collections click here.
To make a suggestion for purchase click here.
Items not available within the Library's collection can be requested through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) .