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11 September 1997
IN THIS FILE
The University Libraries
The General Libraries
Perry-Castaneda Library (PCL)
Undergraduate Library (UGL)
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
Branch Libraries
Collections Deposit Library (CDL)
Wasserman Public Affairs Library
The University Libraries
The libraries of the University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest academic libraries in the United States, include the General Libraries, the Center for American History, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, and the Tarlton Law Library. The UT library online catalog (UTCAT), available on public terminals in the library and via dial-up access from terminals and personal computers on and off campus, includes most items in the General Libraries and the Center for American History and has partial listings for the Humanities Research Center and the Law Library.
The General Libraries
The General Libraries include the Perry-Castaneda Library, the Undergraduate Library, nine branch libraries, the Collections Deposit Library, and two special collections. Special collections are the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection and the Edie and Lew Wasserman Public Affairs Library.
Perry-Castaneda Library (PCL). This open stack library contains more than two million volumes and is the main library of the University of Texas at Austin. It serves most subject fields, but emphasizes the humanities, the social sciences, business, and education. Subject strengths are American and British history, the South, twentieth-century American literature, nineteenth-century English literature, classical philosophy and literature, and modern German literature.
The Perry-Castaneda Library collections contain Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Pali, Prakrit, Sanskrit, and Urdu materials relating chiefly to the social sciences and humanities of South and East Asia. Materials in Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, relating to the language and literature, history, religion, and social sciences of the Middle East are also located there.
Special materials housed in the Perry-Castaneda Library include a collection of United States federal and United Nations official documents in the Reference and Information Services Department, current journals and newspapers and a large collection of microforms in the Periodicals and Microforms Unit, over 252,000 maps in the Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin theses and dissertations, and the Textbook and Curriculum Collection. Other service units are the Circulation Desk, Inter-Library Service (ILS), the Reserves Unit, the Electronic Information Center, Courtesy Borrower Services, and Library Copier Services. The General Libraries administrative offices, Facilities and Support Services, Technical Services, Library Systems, and the Collections and Information Resources Division are also housed in the library.
Library staff at the information desk in the lobby provide general assistance and referrals. Librarians in the Reference and Information Services Department assist in the use of the library and offer reference services.
Staff and services areas are located on the first two levels of the building with the book collection in open stacks on the upper levels. Reader seating is provided on all levels. Photocopiers, change, and copy card vending machines are available in several areas.
Undergraduate Library (UGL). This basic resource library, located in the Flawn Academic Center, is designed to serve undergraduate students, especially those at the lower-division level. Introductory information in all fields is available in an open shelf collection. Reference staff assist users in learning library skills and in finding information. Materials placed on reserve by faculty for the students in their classes are available at the service desk on the first floor. The Audio Visual Library is located on the third floor, where reserve materials in audiovisual formats are available along with videos and films for classroom use. More than two hundred listening/viewing stations are located in the Audio Visual Library. Rooms are also provided for group viewing. The Electronic Information Center on the first floor of the library is available for use by any member of the University community.
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is an international resource for research in Latin American studies, and contains more than 675,000 volumes of books, pamphlets, and magazines in addition to manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and microfilms. It includes any subject related to Latin America or anything written by a Latin American, regardless of language.
The Benson Collection was initially endowed with a collection of rare books and manuscripts relating to Mexico with the purchase of the Genaro Garcia Library in 1921. The Garcia Library brought to the University 25,000 volumes of books and periodicals and over 250,000 pages of manuscripts on Mexican history, education, and law at a time of rising interest in Latin American studies. In 1937 the purchase of the Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta library added early post-Conquest manuscript maps and 45 books published in Mexico between 1544 and 1599. The Benson Collection has since grown to encompass collections from the Rio de la Plata region, Chile, Peru, and Central America, in addtion to all other countries in Latin America.
Other collections include the private collection of President Manuel Gondra of Paraguay, the Diego Munoz library from Chile, the Simon Lucuix Rio de la Plata collection of Uruguay, the Arturo Taracena Flores Library from Guatemala, the papers of the St. John d'el Rey Mining Company of Brazil, the Dorothy Schons collection of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz imprints, and the literary papers of the Argentine novelist Julio Cortazar.
The Mexican American Library Program (MALP) at the Benson Collection was created in 1974 to strengthen and develop Mexican American and Latino materials and research sources at the University. Resources located in the Benson collection--including archival collections--document and assess the cultural, economic, and political impact of the Latino population in the United States. Primary sources acquired through this program include the literary manuscripts of Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, the archives of LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the personal and professional papers of Professors George I Sanchez and Julian Samora.
Materials located at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection are listed in the UT online catalog which can be consulted from terminals in campus libraries or from home computers anywhere in the world through the Internet. The library is available to both University and non-University scholars and students of Latin America. The normal schedule is 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday. When the University classes are in session, some evening and weekend hours are also observed. Call 495-4520 for the current schedule.
Branch libraries. The book collections in the branch libraries generally emphasize the subjects of concern to the colleges, schools, and departments in which they are situated, but are available to all students and faculty members.
Branch libraries include the following: Architecture and Planning, Chemistry, Classics, Engineering, Fine Arts, Geology, Life Science, Physics-Mathematics-Astronomy, and the Marine Science Library in Port Aransas. The Balcones Library Service Center is administered through the Engineering Library.
Collections Deposit Library (CDL). This is a limited access facility housing certain library materials that require continuing though moderate use. Materials may be used at the library or borrowed directly from there if they are available for circulation.
Wasserman Public Affairs Library. The Edie and Lew Wasserman Public Affairs Library serves faculty, students, and agencies of government. The collection contains files of governmental financial statements and annual reports and is a selective depository for documents of the United States and Canadian governments.
General Information
Contents
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Chapter 1
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Chapter 2
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Chapter 3
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Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 6
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Chapter 7
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Appendixes
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Statistical Summaries
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