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Birmingham-Southern College Catalog 2015-2016
8
GENERAL INFORMATION
Library and Information Services
The Charles Andrew Rush Learning Center/N.E. Miles Library is a center for
scholarship on campus. In support of the educational mission and values
of Birmingham-Southern College, the Library is committed to serving
the intellectual and creative needs of the college community. The Library
strives to provide access to high quality information resources, to educate
its patrons, and to provide a space that is conducive to study, research, and
learning.
Professional librarians provide a variety of reference and information
services. They assist students in learning to locate, evaluate, and use
information and support them in their research. Library orientation and
instruction classes are taught by librarians to assist students in developing
sound research techniques and information literacy skills. The Library staff
oversees the maintenance and circulation of the collection and ensures the
smooth operation of the facility.
The facility houses a collection of more than 275,000 titles selected to
support instruction and research at the College. In addition to books and
periodicals, the collections include over 120 online databases, around
125,000 e-books and access to over 35,000 e-journal titles, audio and video
recordings, government documents, microfilm, and microfiche. The Library
is a Congressionally designated partial depository for U.S. government
documents. Special collections house the College archives, Methodist
archives, and rare books. Digitized collections include Birmingham-
Southern College yearbooks dating back to 1907, as well as a number of
student publications. The Library’s online catalog, databases, and many
other resources may be accessed from on or off campus via the Internet.
The Library offers a range of teaching and learning environments.
Conference rooms, seminar rooms, research carrels, an auditorium with
video and computer projection facilities, an electronic classroom, a
learning technology center, and a blended learning classroom are among
the facilities for individual and group study, research, and instruction.
Copying and printing services are also available. Computer workstations
are provided for the use of library patrons, and wireless Internet access is
available throughout the building.
The Library is a member of several state, regional, and national library
cooperatives and networks, including the Network of Alabama Academic
Libraries (NAAL), the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS), and the