Central Service Desk Assistant Guide

Vanderbilt's Heard Libraries is a preeminent, academic research library system that acquires, preserves and makes accessible the world's information and engenders a community of collaboration, adaptability and innovation to address deep inquiry and challenges facing all of humanity.

The Library consists of eight campus libraries, plus Special Collections and University Archives.  Each library has a special focus and together, they make up the Heard Library system.  A printable map of the library locations is available online from the library's website.

Alyne Queener Massey Law Library:

• Collection emphasis on Law
• Also provides access to a wide range of non-legal resources, including business, science, and medical publications
• Law librarians can direct patrons to resources but cannot answer legal questions

Anne Potter Wilson Music Library:

• Collection emphasis on Music
• Specialized Collections of scores & sound recordings, and the Global Music Archive

Annette and Irwin Eskind Family Biomedical Library:

• Collection emphasis on Biomedical Research, Nursing and Health Care
• Located on the first floor & lower level of the EBL building
• Provides access to materials in support of patrons from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as well as others
• Has its own ILL unit - known as Document Delivery Service (DDS) - & its own Technical Service staff
• Home to the History of Medicine Collections & staff on the 3rd floor of the building, as well as the Digital Scholarship & Scholarly Communications group within the 1st floor office

Central Library:

• Collection emphasis on the Humanities & Social Sciences
• Leisure Reading and Video Collections
• The largest campus library with a diversity of study spaces and group study rooms

Divinity Library:

• Collection emphasis on religion and theology.
• Special Collections in Judaica, Ancient Near East and the online Revised Common Lectionary
• Provides support for church and ministry workers locally, as well as nationally via the Kesler Circulating Library

Peabody Library:

• Collection emphasis on Education, Human and Organizational Development
• Specialized collections include Curriculum & Test Materials

Sarah Shannon Stevenson Science & Engineering Library:

• Collection emphasis on Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy and the various Engineering disciplines
• The only campus library open 24/7 throughout the academic year

Special Collections and University Archives:

• Stores and provides access to Vanderbilt University's collection of rare books, manuscripts, etc.
• Houses one of the finest 20th century Southern Literature Collection in the United States

Walker Management Library:

• Collection emphasis on Business, Management and Marketing

Fine Arts Gallery

• Art collection that spans the globe, with strengths in East Asian and European works on paper

The following specialized units are also part of the Jean & Alexander Heard Libraries. Their functions are described below:

Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy (2nd floor)

• Academic think-tank devoted to examining the state of democracy in the modern world

Slave Societies Digital Archive (8th floor, room 813)

• Preserves the most extensive serial records for the history of Africans in the Atlantic world
• Includes more than 700,000 digital images dating from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries

Technical Services

• Provides cataloging and metadata services
• Handles acquisition of materials
• Management of electronic subscriptions
• Preservation, repair, and labeling of library materials

Resource Sharing Services (RSS)

• Provides Faculty Delivery Services
• Provides national ILL service - book and document delivery

Digital Scholarship and Communications (Digital Lab)

• Manages Institutional Repository
• Provides GIS Services
• Handles data curation, digital humanities, and open access publishing/authors rights

Annex and 21 North remote storage units

• The Annex houses off-site book storage
• Holds the largest collection of print material within the library system
• 21 North serves as archives storage unit

Library Technology and Assessment Services (LTAS)

• Provides system management and support for ILS and discovery layer
• Provides network support for library staff and public services

TV News Archives

• Core collection consists of:
  • Broadcast television news: Evenings Collection which consists of daily national news programs recorded 365 days/year.
  • Special Collection: live news events, special reports and select episodes of news magazines
• Database currently includes over 1 million records, including abstracts