George C. Gordon Library
The George C. Gordon Library is open over one hundred hours each week during the academic year and offers a stimulating atmosphere for study. The library provides resources and innovative services in support of the teaching, learning, and scholarship process at WPI.
The library’s four floors consist of a wide variety of individual and group study spaces. Seven Tech Suites, which are collaborative work areas with cutting-edge technologies, are available by reservation request. Seventeen additional group study spaces are located throughout the building and are available on a first come, first served basis. Computer workstations are plentiful within the library, and they are configured for both group and individual use. The PC Room, located on the first floor, has eighteen computers arranged for individual study, while a dozen PCs on the second and third floors have either dual or large monitors for collaborative project work. The computers in the Movie Lab on the third floor are loaded with multimedia software packages. The first floor Anderson Instruction Labs A and B are computer training labs available for staff, but on evenings & weekends Lab A can be scheduled by student groups. Wireless and wired computer network access is available in the building, both for the laptops available for check-out at the Circulation Desk and for personal laptops. Two galleries are located within the Gordon Library, and several art exhibits are scheduled each year. Overall, there are hundreds of seats available in the library, including individual study carrels, group tables, and soft lounge chairs & sofas for relaxing.
The library catalog, electronic journal and book collections, databases, course-specific information, and many other resources are available from the library’s Web site. The web site is the focal point for library resources and services. Access to WPI users who are off-campus is available through the proxy server.
The library collection supports the curriculum and research needs of the WPI community. Currently the library holds 43,000+ print and electronic journals, 48,000+ electronic books, 185,000 + print books, and 180 + research databases. The library collection also contains undergraduate project reports, graduate theses and dissertations, and the WPI Archives and Special Collections, including the Robert Fellman Dickens Collection. Music CDs, DVDs and other media, and New York Times bestsellers are available for recreational purposes.
The Gordon Library staff offers many services to support student learning. The Reference and Instruction Departments help students with research problems and questions, offer library instruction and orientation sessions, and provide research consultations to individuals and to project groups. Students can request materials not held in Gordon Library through the Interlibrary Loan Office and Document Delivery service. WPI students also have access to the collections of other academic libraries within Central Massachusetts thanks to the library’s membership in the Academic and Research Collaborative (ARC). Students can find out which libraries participate in this program or acquire an ARC cross-borrowing card by visiting Gordon Library.
For more information about the services available from the Gordon Library, please visit the department’s web site.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: January 29, 2009 09:27:09