I’m going to spoil the rest of this tour a bit. The libraries are way more than you thought when you started this tour. I could talk about the Library for a very long time. But to simplify it, when I say the UVA Library what I’m actually talking about three things that make up the Library.
First, there are the buildings around UVA. And there are a bunch of them! Ten library buildings in total. All of the libraries are public spaces. You are welcome in all of them. And they're designed to be useful and supportive study spaces that range from open, collaborative areas to reservable meeting rooms for group work to silent floors for deep focus.
A link to maps of the libraries as well as floor plans and directions are at [https://www.library.virginia.edu/map/].
Second, there’s the collection – all the stuff that we own and have access to. And that’s not just print materials and books! We have a massive, mountainous amount of everything you can imagine. And then some! And these materials are here for you - we want you to use them! They're here to support you whether that's for your coursework, to help you do research, learn new skills, and so many more things that we'll go into in later videos. If we don't have something, we can borrow it from another library or we’ll buy it. Our goal is to make sure you have everything you need.
The final piece is the Staff. And the staff are the best part in my opinion because the Library is made up of a group of people that are here at UVA to help you. And we do that in a lot of different ways. You can ask on chat for directions, how to find an article, or how to find something like a publicly available microwave. You can take a free workshop to learn iMovie or Zotero or Python or use a 3D printer. And that’s not even a comprehensive list of examples! And you can come to a librarian when you’re not entirely sure what you professor means when they say you should write a literature review, or need to find a peer-reviewed article, or if you just want to talk through your research and see how we can help. You have a lot of support in the Library and this tour will give you a sense of what those resources are and how to access them.
So to get started, if you have any questions, concerns, or would just like to clarify, you’re welcome to contact the Library staff for help and support. You can go to [library.virginia.edu/askalibrarian] to access the Library chat and the Library contact information.