About the Queen Elizabeth II Library: Memorial University Libraries

About the Queen Elizabeth II Library

The Queen Elizabeth II Library, located on the main campus of Memorial University in St. John's, primarily serves:: the students, faculty and staff of Memorial University; the general community of Newfoundland and Labrador

See also:: Hours; Library Policies; Services

Overview

The Queen Elizabeth II Library is the main library of the highly centralized library system serving Memorial University of Newfoundland. The collection includes material to support the variety of disciplines taught here at the University. It contains over 1,058,600 monographs, 93,900 maps, 13,600 audio-visual titles, and over 70,000 journal titles amounting to 303,500 journal and serial volumes. Currently, about 80% of the journal titles are available in electronic format.

Special areas of the Queen Elizabeth II Library include the Centre for Newfoundland Studies and Archives as well as the Map Room, and The Commons.

The Commons

The Commons is a partnership between Computing and Communications, the Queen Elizabeth II Library, and the Writing Centre. Located on the main floor of the Queen Elizabeth II Library, The Commons provides access to print, electronic, and technology resources with the support and expertise needed to help users in the use of these resources.

The Commons provides a high quality, learner-centered information service delivery in support of research, learning, and writing for the Memorial University community in one centralized location.

A special section within The Commons is The Digital Media Centre (DMC), a resource to facilitate development of the desktop computing abilities of faculty, staff and students. The primary focus of the DMC is multimedia. They provide access to specialized software and devices that those on the leading edge can explore.

Services

The Queen Elizabeth II Library offers many services to its patrons from within the library as well as through distance services. We have a very active information desk that is available 7 days a week. We offer a variety of services to the university community including document delivery, library instruction and access to a wealth of print and online resources. We also offer phone and email reference services for patrons who cannot visit the physical library. While our primary users are the university community we also welcome the general public to use our public access internet terminals.

Centre for Newfoundland Studies

The Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS), located on Level 3 of the QEII Library, is a special research collection of books, government documents, periodicals, newspapers, theses, microforms, archival material and historic maps reserved for the study of all aspects of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Centre holds the largest collection of published Newfoundlandia in the province. Many of its holdings are old and rare, others are as recent as today's government press release or this week's community newspaper.

The Centre helps library users answer everything from simple questions to long-term, in-depth research inquiries. Please ask us a question here.

Unlike other library departments, the Centre does not lend its holdings; they must be used in the reading room. This policy helps protect and preserve the collection. The Centre offers long hours of opening, very quiet work space, research advice and document reproduction services.

Aside from this in-library service, the Centre also accepts questions by phone, email and mail, and answers them with photocopies, digital emails and advice on Internet sites.

Please visit our website.

Specialized Research Collections

Here at the Queen Elizabeth II Library we are striving to excel in the development of our specialized research collections. Notable in this area are Folklore, Irish Studies, and Maritime History collections. These collections have been developed with the support of multiple grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The Linguistics research collection has also benefitted from SSHRC funding.

As Memorial is the only Canadian English-language University to offer a PhD program in Folklore special attention has been given to the library's folklore collection. Our collection currently includes print and multimedia resources on folklore literature, art, music, beliefs and customs, material culture and folk life.

Our Irish Studies collection includes many national and regional newspapers, specialized journals and family history resources. We also have strong collections for the study of the indigenous languages of Newfoundland and Labrador, including both native and European languages.

Study Space

Library study space consists of areas on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors which include individual carrels, tables, 24 single study rooms, 18 group study rooms, a typing room and an adaptive technology room. The single/group study rooms in the Queen Elizabeth II Library are available on a first-come, first-served basis and can be signed out from the Circulation Desk on the second floor.


	Queen Elizabeth II Library Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador Canada A1B 3Y1 Phone:Contact Us Fax: 709-864-2153

February 3, 2012
Library Web Team