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UTRGV faculty have access to a robust print and digital collection and are provided a breadth of library and learning resources services, including instruction in the use of these resources and access to expert librarians to assist with research and other scholarly activities. The UTRGV Library Website serves as the gateway to all library resources and services and allows students to search or browse for books, online journals, select articles, and online databases. Faculty can also submit interlibrary loan requests, find library policies and procedures, current events, research guides, library request forms, and more.
Key library services for faculty
- Ask A Librarian – Contact a librarian for assistance with library resources or services.
- Circulation Policies – Borrowing and other circulation policies at the library.
- Accessibility at the Library – Accessibility services at the library including adaptive technologies, item retrieval, and research assistance.
- Government Documents – Find government document information here.
- Poster Printing – Print posters for academic use such as presenting at a conference, symposium, or for research/course presentation.
- Library Liaisons – Every department has a librarian assigned for collection development. The librarian liaison reviews and places one-time purchase requests for the department and directs faculty to resources, services, or relevant personnel for assistance such as course guide creation, course reserves inquiries, instruction request, etc.
- Recommend a Purchase – Faculty can use these forms to recommend books and other resources for purchase by the library.
- Streaming Video Guide – Faculty can use this guide to find recent updates to streaming video at the library.
- Training Guides & Other Documents
- Library Orientation & Tours – Librarians within the Research and Instruction department provide tours of the library facilities showcasing different departments, resources, collections, and basic library services. Contact the Research and Instruction department to schedule an orientation or tour.
- Library Research Instruction – Faculty can request general or program related instruction both in person and online that is tailored to appropriately support the research needs of classes and students.
- Course Guides – Faculty can request custom course or assignment guides to steer students towards specific resources and tools.
- Textbook Affordability Project - Faculty can request a consultation on using Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogical Practices in their courses.
- Library Publishing Project – Faculty have unlimited access to create Open Educational Resources in Pressbooks. You can request a consultation on how to begin or move a project into Pressbooks by filling out a consultation request.
- Course Reserves - Faculty can place library owned or personal materials on course reserves for students.
- Course Materials – Faculty can submit a purchase request to find out if the library can obtain their textbook as an eBook. Faculty can also request streaming films for their classes from Kanopy and Swank.
- Copyright Instruction – The library does not provide legal advice relating to copyright and all legal questions should be directed towards the university’s legal department. Faculty can request copyright instruction for their courses at any level, or for student groups that may need copyright basic instruction by contacting the Open Scholarship department. The library's copyright guide is available and accessible to all UTRGV users.
- Research Consultations – Schedule a research consultation with a Research and Instruction librarian.
- Research Guides – Research guides are a one-stop-shop to find resources on a specific topic.
- Databases – The library has access to over 200 databases. Search by subject to find databases that support your subject area or topic.
- Interlibrary Loan – Request materials not available at the University library at no charge.
- Publishing Support – The Open Scholarship department can provide support on finding suitable publishing outlets for faculty research based on career goals and departmental or grant requirements. Faculty can also receive support on current trends in scholarly publishing, such as learning about Article Processing Charges, Open Access journals, transformative agreements, pre-print servers, researcher identifiers (such as ORCID), and pre-registration of research. Contact the Scholarly Communications department for more information.
- Research Support – Faculty can request assistance on issues related to Data Management Plans, Research Data Management lifecycles and procedures, and using the DMPTool. Contact the Open Scholarship department for more information.
- ScholarWorks @ UTRGV – The institutional repository of UTRGV can provide support for faculty who are interested in making their research papers available freely (and legally) worldwide. The repository can also be used for creating research data collections or other digital collections that faculty and students would like to share. This could include preserving digital grant deliverables, instructional materials, oral history collections, or student works. Contact the Open Scholarship department for more information.