Related links: LSU Libraries Grant Summaries | A Decade of Progress -- 1992 - 2002| Long Range Action Agenda 2004-2010
The LSU Libraries offers students and faculty strong support for instruction and research through collections containing almost three million volumes, microform holdings, of more than 4 million, and a manuscript collection of more than 12 million items. LSU is part of the Louisiana Online University Information System (LOUIS). The library catalogs of 27 universities in the state are accessible online. Periodical data bases and full text journal can also be retrieved through the network. The LSU Libraries' subject strengths include Louisiana materials, sugar culture and technology, Southern history, agriculture, petroleum engineering, plant pathology, natural history, and various aspects of aquaculture including crawfish, wetlands research, and marine biology.
The LSU Libraries belong to the prestigious Association of Research Libraries, which include the top 114 academic libraries in the U.S. and Canada, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries [ASERL], the Southeastern Library Network [SOLINET], and the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium [LALINC]. Middleton Library is the main library, with special collections housed in the adjacent Hill Memorial Library.
The open-shelf arrangement of the main collection in Middleton Library makes material completely accessible; assistance is offered through Reference Services and the periodical desk on the first floor. Information regarding library services, such as the electronic databases and journals and bibliographic instruction, may be obtained at the Reference Desk and through the library web site.
Other features of Middleton Library are audio workstations for accessing music and a microforms area. Self-service photcopying machines are available at a nominal cost. When material not found in the Libraries is needed for research, faculty, staff and students may borrow it through interlibrary borrowing.
LSU Libraries' U.S. Regional Depository Library collection, the United Nations documents collection, and the U.S. Patent Depository Library collection are housed in Middleton Library. The Library has been a depository for publications of the federal government since 1907 and has a substantial portion of the U.S. documents issued before and after that time. In 1964, the Library became a Regional Depository Library. The holdings of United Nations publications date from the establishment of the United Nations in 1947. In 1981, the Library was designated an official depository for U.S. Patents. The patent collection includes all patents issued from 1871 to the present. The department also has an extensive collection of scientific and technical reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Technical Information Service.
The LSU Libraries Special Collections in Hill Memorial Library provide a center for research in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. The primary strength of Special Collections resides in The Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, an outstanding integrated collection that consists of materials documenting the history and culture of the region. It provides rare and early imprints pertaining to the exploration and colonization of the region; books on Louisiana subjects; books by Louisiana authors; Louisiana state documents; extensive and prestigious manuscript collections, which include the personal papers of important individuals in the history of the region, including the Long family; records of business, professions, and organizations; and extensive photographic collections.
The University Archives, administered by Special Collections and housed in Hill Memorial Library, is the official repository for all permanent noncurrent records of academic and administrative units of the University. In addition, the University Archives is the office on campus charged with records management duties.
The Rare Book Collection is wide-ranging and eclectic in nature, with concentrations in 18th century English literature and history; book arts and the history of the book, including the Bruce Rogers Collection; New World exploration and travel; economic history; and science fiction and fantasy.
The E.A. McIlhenny Natural History Collection was donated to the LSU Libraries in 1971, in memory of Edward Avery McIlhenny, whose private library forms the core of the collection. Rich in ornithological and botanical art, it is an exceptional resource for researchers in the history of those fields. High points in this collection include the James Audubon's double-elephant folio Birds of America, and the "Native Flora of Louisiana" collection of original watercolor drawings by internationally renowned botanical artist Margaret Stones.
The T. Harry Williams Center for Oral History and the United States Civil War Center are also administered as part of the Special Collections but are located in the Agnes Morris House on Raphael Semmes Drive. The Center for Oral History was established in 1991 as an interdisciplinary program that supports and encourages the collection, preservation, and dissemination of the social, political, cultural, and economic history of Louisiana through the use of tape-recorded interviews. Tapes and transcripts generated by the program and its affiliated researchers are deposited in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections.
The United States Civil War Center was created in 1993. The center's unique and all-inclusive mission is to promote the study of the Civil War from the perspectives of all professions, occupations, and academic disciplines. Projects and programs include a clearinghouse webpage, publications, exhibitions, and the Civil War Book Review.
