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Library
Collections
Description
of the Collections
The Willard J. Houghton Library building was completed in 1964. In the
earliest Houghton Seminary Catalogue (1886/87), the library in the original
Seminary building was described as a Reading Room. On the present campus site,
the library initially occupied rooms on the second floor of Fancher building.
Two floors and the basement of the new Luckey Building were home for the library
collections from 1937 until the present building was completed.
Currently, the combined libraries (Main Campus, Music, and West Seneca) have more than
246,000 volumes, subscribe to over 500 print periodical titles (with over 3700
available online), and have seating for 257 patrons. In addition to the main
circulating collection the libraries also house several special collections:
Reference
Collection
The non-circulating reference collection on the main floor is comprised of
encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, biographical sources, bibliographies,
commentaries, directories, indexes, etc. It is organized by the
Library of
Congress call number scheme.
Juvenile Collection
The juvenile collection is on the lower floor. The books are arranged in three
broad classifications:
The entire juvenile collection is intended primarily for use by those majoring
in education.
Wesleyana/Gunsalas Room
The Wesleyana/Gunsalus Room houses three collections. There is a collection of
Church and College publications, a small collection of rare or valuable books,
as well as a personal collection donated by Reverend Roy S. Nicholson, who was
president of the General Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church from
1947-59. These collections are fully cataloged and available for use within the
library. The Nicholson Collection is primarily works about Methodism and
publications by or about John and Charles Wesley. John Willet, first graduate of
the advanced department of Houghton Seminary in 1901 used the antique roll-top
desk at the denominational publishing house when it was located in Syracuse. The
smaller desk is said to have belonged to Willard J. Houghton and was donated to
the College by Mary Lane Clarke, early Houghton graduate, missionary to Sierra
Leone, occasional faculty member of Houghton Seminary, and founder of YMWB of
the Wesleyan Church.
Consult any librarian for access to the room.
Archives
The College Archives is on the lower level of the main library and houses both memorabilia and manuscript materials related to
the College and the Houghton community.
Consult the Archivist for access to this room.
Videotapes
The videotape collection (approximately 1500 videotapes) is on the main floor,
near the microfiche/microfilm.
List
of videos owned by Houghton College.
Library's
Policy on Video Viewing
Periodicals, Microforms, and Newspapers
All bound periodicals are shelved on the lower level and are arranged
alphabetically by title. Current newspapers and periodicals are shelved in the
reading area on the main floor. Periodicals and newspapers on microform
(microfiche and microfilm) reside in cabinets near the microform reader/printers
on the main floor. The hard copy indexes to the periodicals are in the reference area.
Online indexes can be accessed through the Online
Resources web page.
Houghton
at West Seneca Campus (Ada M. Kidder Library)
The Ada M. Kidder Memorial Library at Houghton College's West Seneca Campus
contains approximately 30,000 volumes. Since the campus was once the Buffalo
Bible Institute, the strength of the collection is in Biblical Studies. After
the campus was acquired by Houghton College, however, the collection was
expanded to include urban studies, social welfare, English and American
literature, and children's literature.
Students and faculty at either campus can request books from the other
campus, to be delivered by frequent shuttle. Other services include interlibrary
loan and Infopass cards. (Infopass cards allow borrowing privileges in Buffalo
and Erie county area libraries. They are for faculty and for students doing
independent study or honors projects. Contact the library director at the main
campus if you need an Infopass card.)
Music Library
The Music Library is located on the second floor of the Center for the Arts. It houses
the library's collection of musical sound recordings. In addition, it houses a collection of
about 300 non-music recordings, including poetry readings, speeches, plays, and
sound effects. The Music Library also serves as a depository for all recordings
of School of Music performances. The Music Library is equipped with listening
and viewing facilities outfitted with DVD and compact disc players,TVs and VCRs,
turntables, and cassette players. Ninety-five to ninety-eight percent of the
items housed in the Music Library are cataloged in GRACE, the Houghton College
online public access catalog.
Access to the
Collections
Main Campus Library
The main library no longer has a public card catalog. Our monographic
collection is completely indexed by our computer catalog, which is referred to
as "GRACE". There are several public-use computer
systems in the library's public service areas. You may access
the library via the convenient Online Resources web
page.The on-line catalog (GRACE) is the access point for the entire circulating
collection, the reference collection, the juvenile collection, the Wesleyana
Collection, the videotapes and other audiovisual materials, the Houghton at
West Seneca Campus library, and much of the Music Library.
Houghton at West Seneca Library
The Houghton at West Seneca Campus' Ada M. Kidder Memorial Library has access
via modem or campus network to the main library's computer catalog (GRACE), which
includes the holdings of the Houghton at West Seneca Campus library as well as
the holdings of the main campus. Students and faculty at either campus can
request books from the other campus, to be delivered by frequent shuttle.
Periodical Literature
Access to the periodical literature is through the numerous hard copy indexes and
abstracts located in the reference area and online through the Online
Resources web page. Periodical holdings have been added to the computer system (GRACE). This
does not mean that periodical articles are indexed by subject. It does
mean that you can find out which issues, volumes, and years we own by checking
the computer catalog under the title of the magazine or journal.
Arrangement of Books and Periodicals
Books
The library's book collections are arranged using the Library of
Congress (LC) Classification System, which attempts to place materials
together according to their subject matter. All of the books are represented
in the on-line computer catalog (GRACE).
Library of Congress (LC) Classification System
| A General Works, Encyclopedias, Yearbooks, etc. |
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M Music |
| B Philosophy, Religion, Psychology |
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N Fine Arts |
| C History |
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P Language Literature |
| D History (except U.S.) |
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Q Science |
| E, F American History |
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R Medicine |
| G Geography, Folklore |
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S Agriculture |
| H Social Sciences, Anthropology |
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T Technology |
| J Political Science |
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U Military Science |
| K Law |
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V Naval Science |
| L Education |
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Z Bibliography, Library Science |
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Periodicals and Microforms
The bound periodical collection, the current periodicals, and the periodicals
on microform are arranged alphabetically by title of magazine or journal.
Juvenile Collection
The juvenile collection has three parts: EASY, JUNIOR, and
YOUNG ADULT. Each of the three parts has 2 sections: fiction (arranged
alphabetically by author) and non-fiction (classified with Dewey numbers).
This corresponds to the arrangements typically found in school libraries.
Library-related questions to
Brad Wilber.
Library webpage-related questions to Glen
Avery
Updated February 7, 2006
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