Golda Meir Library Offers Variety of Resources

On a typical day at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Golda Meir Library, many students can be found sitting behind a laptop or an open notebook, studying for their courses while listening to music or lectures through a pair of headphones. Despite the fact that students often spend hours at a time in the space, some describe themselves as unfamiliar with the resources the library has to offer.

Abby Clarke, a sophomore Medical Technology major, comes to the library three times a week. Clarke said she is not fully aware of the library’s resources, and often opts to study in the same area.

“I haven’t really adventured much in the library for as much time as I spend here,” Clarke said. “I feel like there’s probably a lot of great resources here, I just personally haven’t used them. I know we have a great online library database; I’ve used that for a class before, but nothing in person.”

While the library offers a multitude of research materials through databases for each subject area, there are other types of resources that can be obtained through the library.

Audiobook Downloads through Overdrive

 “As an academic library, we try to provide as many resources as we can for students within their discipline or for their studying,” said Christopher Doll, the Associate Director for Collection and Resource Management at UWM, over Zoom. “We are an R1 institute, so of course we have the major databases and journals that are requisite for an R1 institution, but I like to think that we also have fun materials too. We have a lot of fiction; we have a lot of fun books.”

One way that this non-academic reading material can be accessed is through Overdrive, which provides students with audiobooks.

“Something that a lot of students actually don’t know is we do have a system-wide subscription to Overdrive,” Doll said. “That’s something that normally only public libraries have, but all of the universities within the systems have access to Overdrive, which would be a lot of e-books and audiobooks that normally wouldn’t be available to students.”

By using the app, students are able to download books and listen on the go. Other types of streaming media are also available through the library, including music and video streaming databases.

Equipment from the Media and Reserve Services

Aside from materials that can be accessed online, the Media and Reserve Services, located on the lower level of the library, offer an assortment of technology and equipment for student use.

“We have some equipment down in the Media and Reserve library that not everyone might associate with the library,” said Music and Performing Arts Librarian Anna Grau Schmidt. “You can check out LP players, you can check out video cameras, and we even have a Green Screen in the Media Room downstairs.”

Unique spaces can also be found on this level, including the Recording Booth, where students can make a video or participate in a Zoom call.

“There’s also an audio lab for podcast recording with a mixing board and everything,” Grau Schmidt said.

Other Activities

The library is not only a space to complete work, but also to participate in activities. Students can get involved in various projects through the library, including book clubs, Geek Week activities, and other pop-ups.

E-books and Articles

When considering more traditional academic resources offered by the library, the use of online materials, such as e-books and articles, has increased significantly in recent years.

“In the last three years, the percentage of e-books being used by students has increased by 138%,” Doll said. “So, it stagnated around one checkout per student, and now we’re approaching three.”

Additionally, the average student views 61 articles per year through electronic journals on the library’s databases, according to Doll. By using the online databases, students are finding research materials for themselves without physically being in the library.

One tool that has expanded students’ online research abilities is LibKey. This system combines the databases by locating relevant material across all sources and navigating the reader from one database to another, without requiring separate searches. In three months, LibKey saved members of the UWM community about 11 days of research time, according to Doll.

“I think five years ago, a lot of times people thought of librarians or libraries as the gatekeepers of information, like we had it under lock and key and if you needed something you would have to come to us and we would find it for you,” Doll said, “and I think libraries have done a good job transitioning and being more of teachers, teaching the skills requisite of finding things.”

Assistance from Librarians

The librarians at UWM are equipped to help with research in every area of study.

“Probably the best, most underused resource is the people that we have, the specialized staff,” Grau Schmidt said. “Students can get help at this desk most of the business hours and can also make one-on-one appointments with librarians for research help. There’s a lot of expertise, as well as the resources, that is available for students.”

Grau Schmidt said she appreciates when students visit the library, and she hopes they can become familiar with its resources early in their college experience.

“Sometimes I get a student in a class that’s a junior or a senior and has never actually been in here,” Grau Schmidt said, “so they don’t know all of the things beyond just the e-books that we have available.”