From www.taylor.edu - Taylor University, integrating faith and learning

What's movin' in the library?

10.11.2007

Are you interested in what subjects of library materials are checked out the most? Well, here it is! Materials on the Bible - Bibles themselves, commentaries, and other materials about the Bible - go out more than anything else. Music and materials about music are second, followed by Christian social theology, education and Christian theology. In a third tier are Christian moral and devotional theology, social sciences, social services and associations, English and Old English literature, medical sciences, biography, and Christian orders and local churches.

What does all of this mean? A couple of things are clear from this. First, the use of library materials on campus reflects the Mission of the university and the emphasis on the integration of faith and learning. Notice how many of the categories listed above deal with our Christian lives. The relatively thin representation of the sciences and social sciences in the list above may reflect the fact that much of the research in the these areas is done using periodical literature rather than monographic literature which takes much longer to produce. (There were 107,071 full-text articles retrieved online last year by Zondervan Library users.)

Library implications: The Zondervan library is committed to providing materials that support all of the curriculum and as such, will continue to find ways to improve our support of each major. However, we do consult these statistics as we make decisions about where we will spend the university's money. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about what materials the library acquires, please contact Laurie Wolcott or Dan Bowell.

Laurie Wolcott, Collection Development and Technical Services Librarian