Contact: Maridith Geuder
The addition of hundreds of new journals is "significantly expanding" Mississippi State's library holdings and supporting a university goal of becoming a major national research institution.
The campus library system is adding journals in two phases. The process follows a series of meetings with deans, department heads and faculty members to determine exactly what publications were needed.
In the recently completed first phase, nearly 400 journals were ordered in a range of subjects that support MSU's teaching and research missions, said Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman. With these and future additions, nearly 10,000 journals eventually will be available.
"We're also adding a significant number of electronic journals," she said. "Our plan is to continue to provide resources that help support the teaching needs of faculty and enhance the university's efforts to move into the ranks of the nation's top research universities."
Among his announced goals, President Malcolm Portera wants MSU to be ranked among the top 50 public research universities as reported by the National Science Foundation.
"Dr. Portera and others in the university administration have committed $1 million annually for three years to enhance library resources," Coleman said.
An expansion of resources also helps meet requirements for another Portera goal--membership in the Association of Research Libraries, something no Mississippi library currently holds. In addition to the number of volumes, ARL certification criteria include such things as research collections, services, staffing and physical resources.
Through a major renovation and expansion project completed in 1995, Mitchell Memorial Library, the main facility, more than doubled its previous size. Combined, Mitchell and other library units contain more than 1.2 million volumes.
For more information about MSU libraries, visit http://nt.library.msstate.edu.