What’s a library?

The library at WVU (specifically the downtown campus) contains four floors of vast knowledge and quiet study rooms, filled with rare books and computer workstations (and is usually chock-full of undergrads). Seriously though, the library is pretty cool, especially if you are looking for somewhere quiet (or loud, for that matter) to bring your laptop, overload on caffeine, and get a ton of work done. There are quiet rooms where people scowl at you if you sneeze too loudly (and is definitely not for the mouth breather), and there are rooms that you can book out if you need to work on a project with a group, so it really is a place with a little something for every kind of student. I know that the library is not the best place to study for EVERYONE (feel free to share your thoughts on that here), but it certainly contains enough information to finish up those last papers for the semester… and then some.

The library is obviously a great resource for graduate students. Research is the backbone of an MSJ degree, and the library might be the best place to start the process (after Google, of course). If you aren’t looking to study at the library but would like to check out some books, MountainLynx lets you search for books online before you get there. This tool is very easy to use, but if you have any trouble at all, you can always ask a librarian. If I may inject my two cents here, it would be that once you are at the library and you find the book you’re looking for, stop and look around in that section. You might be surprised at the other information that is waiting there right under your nose. I realize this may sound obvious to some of you, but I know that some students drift in and out of the library without stopping to smell the roses… or stale books.

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6 thoughts on “What’s a library?

  1. I’m so amazed at all the wonders our libraries (and university libraries everywhere) have to offer. For example, you can check out cameras, both video and regular, from the library. And laptops can be checked out. And Eliza’s offers so many tasty treats. Heck, most of the time I go to the library just to get away from people and relax. There are so many places to cloister yourself, you don’t really have to worry about running into to someone who’ll end up annoying you.

  2. Ali Young says:

    I agree. Services such as Lexis Nexis have provided me with a lot of resources when writing papers. However, (like Sarah said) the library serves not only as a study area, but a nice place for alone time if you can’t get your roommates to quiet down. Don’t you hate when someone sits next to you and they think they’re being polite because they’re blaring their music through their headphones? Yea, I can still hear that!

  3. I get really crazy giddy when I can spend an entire day in the library. I know that’s weird, and I know that it makes me a nerd, but I sincerely enjoy lugging stacks of books back to a table and scribbling notes into a notebook. It feels like a treasure hunt to me, and that pursuit of knowledge followed by discovery is deeply gratifying.

    Good call on browsing the rest of the section. It’s amazing what you can stumble into sometimes.

  4. thecoalfist says:

    Would you believe me if I told you I’ve been here four years and never checked out a book?

    That is a fact.

    I’d love to see a graph of “library usage vs. major” or something like that personally. How often do you find yourself there, Greer? I see Marshal enjoys spending his free time there, but do you find yourself doing the same?

  5. Matt Murphy says:

    I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve physically been to the library this year. But, I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve needed resources the library provides, like Ebscohost. Maybe this is a glimpse of the future – libraries will move to an online presence and away from the large buildings of today.

  6. Anan Wan says:

    I want to correct you that our library (downtown library) has 6 floors, as it is written in the elevator and the library instruction. The books about media and communications are in the sixth floor. One thing I like our library most is that there are many DVDs for movies which are new versions including different cuts or even different endings. I always like to check out these new-verisons and watch the directors’ and actors’ interviews.

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