Unlock Your Potential: A Guide to Furman University Library Resources
Are you making the most of the extensive resources available to you through Furman University Libraries? Furman University Libraries seek to engage, enlighten, and empower its students and provide them with the resources and services to excel in their studies. This guide will help you navigate the library's offerings, from finding books and articles to accessing digital magazines and research tools.
Discovering Books at Furman University Libraries
Need a book for your research, personal enjoyment, or professional development? Furman University Libraries offer extensive resources to help you find and access the books you need. You can navigate the library’s physical collection using maps to locate books on the shelves. Efficiently search the catalog for both print and electronic books. You’ll also discover how to log in to your library account to renew materials and save items for future reference. In addition, we’ll introduce you to borrowing books beyond Furman through PASCAL and interlibrary loan (ILL) services.
Staying Informed: Accessing Newspapers and Magazines
Stay informed with access to leading newspapers and magazines. Furman University Libraries provide access to a wide array of news publications. The News LibGuide will guide you on how to create personal accounts for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Bloomberg. You’ll also learn how to locate and access articles from popular news magazines such as The Atlantic, The Economist, and Mother Jones through catalog and e-journal searches.
Need local news? You can find articles from regional newspapers and specialized publications like The Chronicle of Higher Education. You’ll also learn how to use ISSN numbers for precise searching and how to submit interlibrary loan (ILL) requests for articles and periodicals.
Digital Resources: EBook Central and Flipster
The Furman Community will no longer have to download a separate Adobe digital editions reader to access our EBook subscriptions. Everything is available and more accessible than ever on our new EBook Central App!
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Furman University Libraries is excited to offer students, faculty, and staff free access to Flipster, a digital magazine platform that makes browsing your favorite titles easier than ever. Whether you’re on your laptop, phone, or tablet, Flipster brings a collection of top publications straight to your screen.
Enhanced Research with EBSCO Databases
If you use EBSCO databases like Academic Search Premier, Business Source Ultimate, Communication Source Complete, or PsycInfo, you’ll notice some big changes! You’ll be greeted by a cleaner and more streamlined design, more intuitive filter/sort/find features, and a suite of new tools including the AI Insights tool that provides AI-generated summaries of articles.
Unlimited Learning with O’Reilly for Higher Education
At Furman, we believe in equipping students and faculty with the best resources to excel academically and professionally. That’s why O’Reilly for Higher Education is available to you-for free.
Unique Collections and Historical Resources
Few stories evoke the holiday spirit so readily as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. First published in December of 1843, the book reportedly sold out all 6,000 copies on its first day (Dickens, Wannamaker, p. 5). Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa is a rich collection of more than 27,000 objects and 190,000 pages of documents and images. The liberation of Southern Africa and the dismantling of the Apartheid regime was a major political development in the 20th century.
Why Furman Libraries Stand Out
Why are Furman libraries among the top-ranked in the nation for student satisfaction? We seek to engage, enlighten, and empower our students and provide them with the resources and services to excel in their studies. Whether you’re researching the work of a 19th-century artist or seeking the latest finding in a cell biology journal, Furman’s library system can help. Our friendly and knowledgeable librarians are devoted to student learning and research support. The centerpiece of the library system is the James B. Duke Library, which provides access to over a million physical and online resources and to a variety of academic information services and technologies.
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Leadership and Vision at Furman University Libraries
The Furman University Libraries seek a motivated, adaptable, and forward-thinking leader to provide strategic visioning for the newly combined Outreach and Access Division. The person in this library faculty position reports to the Director of Libraries and serves as a member of the Library’s Leadership Team. They participate in the creation, planning, and implementation of library initiatives which are aligned with the University’s priorities, and they work to foster an environment that prioritizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This individual guides the Outreach and Access Division in the many services they offer to the campus community, which include course-integrated library instruction, research assistance, academic department collaboration and support, collection development and management, circulation, interlibrary loan, programming, and various other forms of innovative outreach.
Responsibilities of the Outreach and Access Division Leader
• Supervises the Coordinator of Access Services and six Outreach Library faculty members, including the Science Librarian and the Music Librarian.• Develops a strategic vision for the division; builds on current strengths and seeks out new opportunities to serve the university community.• As appropriate, both leads and participates in course-integrated library instruction, research assistance, outreach and departmental liaison work, and multi-phase projects and initiatives.• Coordinates the Furman University Libraries’ presence at campus events, activities, and programs.• Collaborates with academic partners to identify, lead, implement, and support new and ongoing initiatives on campus and beyond.• Advocates for the Libraries and particularly for Outreach and Access library staff and faculty.• Serves on the Library Leadership Team.• Embraces the diversity of strengths, contributions, viewpoints, and work styles of library colleagues and those within the broader campus community; works to foster an environment that prioritizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.• Establishes and maintains open dialog within the division and library, fostering a collegial work environment.• Manages the hiring, motivation, mentoring, and evaluation of their reports; encourages, seeks, and facilitates professional development opportunities for self and division members.• Collects, assesses, and disseminates data related to Outreach and Access services for internal use and external reporting.• Collaborates with the Associate Director for Digital and Resource Management in maintaining a strong liaison program empowering Outreach Librarians and Access Services Staff to participate in collection development and maintenance activities.• Participates in regional and national professional associations and advances knowledge of current higher education and academic library issues, trends, standards, and emerging technologies.• As a member of the university faculty, participates fully in faculty governance to provide a voice for the Libraries. This includes activities such as attending faculty meetings and serving on university committees. This may also involve serving as a Pathways advisor/instructor as well as proposing and teaching other credit-bearing courses.
Attributes of a Successful Leader
• Displays curiosity, openness, and authenticity in their interactions with students, colleagues, academic partners, and the community.• Helps others learn, grow, and improve through support, feedback, inspiration, motivation, and encouragement.• Holds a proven record of project, organizational, analytical, time management, and communication skills.• Shows flexibility and creativity in navigating change.
Salary and Benefits
The minimum salary for this position is $80,000 annually. Salary commensurate with experience. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life plans, and a retirement plan (TIAA).
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