LibGuides: Collection Development: Collections at WSU

Libraries and Collections

Ablah Library (main library)

Library hours, floor guides, information on the 24-hour study room, and Ablah Library faculty and staff director

Music Library hours, information about the collection, services, and circulation policies; links to information about Thurlow Lieurance; and links to online music sources

Connect to the WSU Libraries Special Collections and University Archives, the Shocker Open Access Repository (SOAR), and Journals Hosted by WSU Libraries (OJS).

Connect to local, state, and local government information and resources.
University Libraries subscribes to a number of state, national, and foreign newspapers and maintains them for a limited time in the Reserve area of the Ablah Library, first floor. Ask at the Reserve Desk for recent daily and Sunday issues. Back issues of selected newspapers are listed in the online catalog and are available in microfilm or through Internet links to selected Kansas newspapers. Many other newspapers are also available on the Internet via the Libraries' Website. Ask at the Reference Desk or call extension 3584 for more information.

Links to Resources that will help readers find books that match their interests and provides information on the WSU Libraries' own popular reading and audiobook collections.

Selected geographical, political, geologic, and topographic maps are housed in the Reserve Area on the first floor of Ablah Library. A collection of early maps of Kansas is located in Special Collections and can be accessed through: http://specialcollections.wichita.edu/collections/maps/index.asp

Micromedia Collection

The collection consists of 1,096,000 items in microfilm, microfiche, microcards, and microprints. Series and individual titles are listed in the online catalog and in special bibliographic tools in the Reference collection.
Back issues of selected newspapers and other materials in micro format are housed in the Reserve Area on the first floor. University Libraries has readers and reader-printers. Copies may be made for 25 cents per page. For assistance with this equipment, go to the Reserve Desk.

The Thurlow Lieurance Memorial Music Library is located in the Music and Languages Innovation Center (MALIC), in Jardine Hall, room 313, along with the Savaiano-Cress Language Lab. Begun as a departmental collection, the holdings were incorporated in to the University Libraries system in 1981. The library is named in honor of composer and former dean of the Wichita State University School of Music, Thurlow Lieurance. The collection consists of scores, sound recordings (compact discs, phonograph records and audio cassettes), music videos, and basic music reference materials. The collection's primary purpose is to support the music curriculum, therefore the acquisition of new materials emphasizes the current areas of study and performance.

Links to resources in patents, trademarks, and copyright made available by WSU Libraries, the only library in Kansas designated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL).
Connect to federal, state, and local government information and resources.

Reference Collection

Located on the first floor of Ablah Library, the Reference Collection consists of major bibliographic tools and selected fact books. They are arranged by Library of Congress classification and listed in the online catalog located by "Ref" above the call numbers. The Reference collection is non-circulating.

Links to resources that support over 60 academic subject areas and 30 WSU courses. Also provides links to resources in special topic areas such as careers, children's literature, colleges and universities, and financial aid.

Shocker DVD Collection

There are over 600 popular movies and TV shows available fro checkout free of charge by WSU students, faculty, and staff. The collection is housed in the Reserve Reading Room on the first floor of Ablah Library. Movies and show can be checked out for three days with one renewal. there is a limit of 4 DVDs at each checkout.

SOAR is the institutional repository of Wichita State University. The purpose of SOAR is to make the University's digital scholarship available to global audience and to serve as a reliable digital storage. SOAR has a dual function of a publication platform and a digital archive. University faculty and staff are invited to publish research works, data, or documents in SOAR. For more information contact: soar@wichita.edu.

A portal to the collections, special projects, exhibits and features of the Special Collections and University Archives Department.

The textbook collection was started through a gift from Mrs. Marge Page, a longtime supporter of the Wichita State University Libraries. Her decision to make the donation was based on the difficulty she and her husband faced in purchasing all their textbooks while attending college.
The aim of the collection is to assist students who may not be able to afford textbooks or who may be delayed in purchasing them. Textbooks purchased for this collection are ones that generally cost $100 or more, and are required for classes with high enrollment.
Attempts were made to represent each instructional college of the University in the collection. Current textbooks from the Libraries’ general collection were also added to the ones purchased.

Theses and dissertations produced at Wichita State University are housed in Special Collections and University Archives. Second copies of many of these theses and dissertations are available in the circulating collection on the second floor in the call number range LD2667. They can be identified in the online catalog by author, title, and subject. Electronic copies of newer theses and disserations can be found in SOAR - Shocker Open Access Repository.