Another unique aspect of a research university is that the Library is big enough that there are a variety of departments and teams that focus on different areas of support for UVA. One that’s entirely focused on supporting researchers – and that includes undergrad and grad students as well as faculty – are what are called subject librarians.
The subject librarians serve as library representatives, or liaisons, to specific departments. There are three librarians that are liaisons for the School of Engineering. I’m the liasion for Computer Science and STS but you also have Jenny Coffman (recently left - we are currently searching for a new liaison) who is the liaison for ChemE, BME, and Materials Science, and Erich Purpur who is the liaison for everything else! And any class you take whether that’s History or Physics, there’s a subject librarian for that department.
So why is this important enough that I made an entire video as part of this tour? Because the three of us are your single point of contact to anything you need in the Library or aren’t sure who to ask. All of us are happy to answer question via email or you’re welcome to set up an appointment with us to talk about whatever you need to talk about! That could be stuff about using the Library, finding an article that you need, or having someone to ask when your professor says you need to do a critical analysis and you’ve never done one before.
You could need support now or next semester or not until you’re a fourth year. But know that we’re here when you need us and happy to answer questions, help you find information, and locate resources that will help you succeed.
You can find a list of all the subject librarians at https://guides.lib.virginia.edu/subjectlibrarians