Collections
General Collection
The library holds over 250,000 volumes in the General, Reference,
and Periodical Collections. The general circulating collection is shelved by Library
of Congress call number on the third floor stack areas. Developed
to support the College's curriculum, the strengths of the collection include American
history and English literature.
Reference Collection
The Reference Collection -- encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, handbooks,
atlases, and similar materials used within the library -- is located on the
second
floor behind the Reference Desk. Print and online indexes to
periodicals, newspapers, and government documents
are available. Please ask for assistance.
Periodicals and Newspapers
The library subscribes to approximately 300 current print periodical titles in many disciplines.
In addition, several thousand online periodical titles are included in the
library's online catalog. An
electronic journal
finder is available for searching these full-text e-journals. The most recent issues of magazines, journals, and newspapers are placed
on shelves
on the lower level of the second floor. Bound periodicals are shelved alphabetically
by title on the first floor. Back files of selected newspapers and journals are available on microfilm
in the Microformats Room on the second floor.
Project Muse, JSTOR, WorldCAT, and other online
resources provide access to
full text periodicals.
The titles of all of the Library's periodical and newspaper holdings are included
in the online catalog.
Children's Collection
The Children's Collection is maintained primarily for community use. It is located
on the Fourth Floor of the Library in the Children's Collection Reading Room. Some,
but not all, of the collection is entered into the online catalog.
Special Collections
Special Collections include the Rare Books Collection and the Hampden-Sydney Collection.
Rare Books are often items that are considered scarce because of age and condition
or valuable signatures. The Hampden-Sydney Collection includes books and a small number of manuscripts that are associated with the College--faculty members, alumni,
and history. Rare books are kept in a storage vault on the first floor. The H-SC
Collection and the UPLS Collections are shelved on the fourth floor. Most of the items, other
than manuscripts, are included in the online catalog. Ask a library staff member
for assistance with finding materials and retrieving materials from these collections.
Government Documents Collection
 Documents published by the United States government and by the state of Virginia are
located on the second floor. Included in this collection are a wide variety of books
and pamphlets about government, environment, history, foreign relations, business,
population, and many other topics. To find titles in U.S. documents, consult the
online Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, or ask for assistance. Useful websites include
GPO Access, the Government Printing
Office Portal, and Firstgov.gov, the U.S.
Government's Official Web Portal.
Microforms Collection
Microform (microfilm and microfiche) materials are located in the
microformats room on the second floor. Assorted periodicals and newspapers, as well as a
small collection of government
documents, are available in microform. Microfilm and microfiche
readers and printers are available.
Video, Audio, Slide, and Software Collections An extensive collection of sound recordings (audio compact discs), video resources (videotapes,
DVDs),
slides, and computer software are located in the Fuqua International Communications Center.
Resources may be checked out for five days. Overdue fines are one dollar
per day per item. All media resources are included in the library's online
catalog. Limit your search to the location
"Fuqua" to eliminate print resources.
Online Resources
Access to the library's Online Resources is restricted to Hampden-Sydney College
Users only.
Click here to view a list of the
library's Online Resource subscriptions. |