UK Libraries' Latest Additions Increase Accessibility to Services, Spaces, Collections
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 14, 2020) — With the spring semester in full swing, University of Kentucky Libraries would like to remind students, staff and faculty about the latest updates to the libraries’ services, study spaces and resources.
Updated Spaces: Visit and Stay Awhile
In Fall 2019, UK Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center completed its newest renovations to the second floor’s Breckinridge Research Room, which provides in-person access to UK Libraries’ collection of rare books, archives and manuscripts, public policy collections, Appalachian collections and Kentuckiana items. Updates to the Research Room included ergonomic seating, a microfilm machine, additional internet ports and more.
The center also opened its new Breckinridge Digital Studio in the fall. Projects involving primary resources are now made easier thanks to the studio’s state-of-the-art imaging technologies, including a Bookeye 4 color planetary scanner, a Plustek OpticFilm 8200i SE film scanner and a FotodioX LED Studio-in-a-Box tabletop studio.
In UK Libraries’ central library, graduate students can now enjoy a quiet place to work with the new Thomas D. Clark Graduate Study on the fifth floor of the William T. Young Library. This enclosed space is perfect for studying, making lesson plans or even completing a dissertation.
Expanded Resources: Picture the Ways You Will Use Them
Looking for research materials online? The Special Collections Research Center’s Digital Library has made primary sources more accessible with recent online additions to the Wade Hall Collection for American Letters, a new digital library of newly acquired negatives from the Lexington Herald-Leader and a new collections site for the oral histories of the John G. Heyburn II Initiative.
Patrons can also find photographs from the famous architectural photographer Frank Doering at the Design Library on the second floor of Pence Hall. These newly acquired images feature UK’s Kirwan-Blanding Complex.
Accessing full-text pdfs from the libraries’ online journals is also just a click away with a new LibKey integration with PubMed and Google Chrome. To access this feature through Google Chrome, users can visit the Chrome Web Store to download the LibKey Nomad app and select “University of Kentucky” as the institution.
Expanded Services: Feel Renewed and Recharged
Undergraduates can now check out library materials worry-free with an extended 42-day checkout. Items can also be renewed up to two times through the libraries’ online portal.
Students looking to unwind from spring semester stress are encouraged to take advantage of new checkouts available at the William T. Young Library. Patrons can select from a variety of board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble and Catan, which are available to check out for seven days at a time.
Young Library’s Audio Visual Services also recently partnered with the Media Depot to offer a variety of Playstation 4 games that may be used in the new Virtual Reality Room outfitted with a Sony Playstation 4 Console and VR System.
Finally, students no longer need to worry about a low battery on their mobile devices with new chargers available at Young Library’s Circulation Desk. Chargers include USB and USB-C chargers, USB-C (18 watt) chargers suitable for laptops and Apple chargers.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.