9.5.7 Van Pelt and Opie Library

The Van Pelt and Opie Library offers an array of services and resources to support faculty research and instruction. Librarians and staff are eager to support faculty success and to collaborate with faculty and their students - we encourage all faculty members to share their needs and suggestions at any time. The Library's web site www.mtu.edu/library and the contacts should be useful but a librarian will be pleased to meet with faculty at their convenience.

Van Pelt and Opie Library (Building)

While the library’s extensive, staffed service hours are posted on its Web site www.mtu.edu/library portions of the building are open 24/7 via the West entrance with active HuskyCards for students, faculty and staff. Faculty members are invited for customized tours of the library and/or the archives at any time.

The library offers a variety of events and exhibits throughout the year and welcomes faculty to use exhibit spaces or cases or to collaborate with library staff for events, exhibits, and displays, including digital displays. The library will also sponsor and publicize events including, but not limited to, research highlights, use of the library or archival materials, book signings, art displays or invited speakers.

Library 244, an instruction classroom, used for information literacy and library research instruction in consort with a librarian. A second space, an experimental classroom (#243) can be reserved for approximately 15 students to test technologies and pedagogical approaches.

Two service centers are located in the front of the library:

• Library Circulation Desk
• Technical Assistance Center (TAC)

The Library Circulation Desk facilitates checking out/returning library materials and answers library related questions.

The TAC allows customers to speak face-to-face with a Michigan Tech IT staff member. If a staff member cannot resolve your problem quickly, they will help you create a support ticket with Michigan Tech IT.

University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

Renowned archives focused on mining history and commerce and the towns, cities and cultures of the Keweenaw Peninsula. An array of manuscript collections, images and monographs illuminate the companies, social organizations, events and persons of the region as well as the university’s history. The archives’ strengths include collections of the Quincy Mining and Calumet and Hecla companies; regional newspapers on microfilm; and public records from the six counties in the western Upper Peninsula. A databank of over 13,000 photographs, Copper Country Historical Images, reflects the strengths of the archives. The archivists offer tours of the archives and welcome collaboration with instructors to weave primary source materials into assignments or student research.

Access to the Literature, Scholarly and Scientific Resources

The library endeavors to provide faculty and their students with the publications and resources required for their current and likely future research and teaching needs. While not a “just in case” research library, the collections—particularly the journal collections—are carefully assessed throughout the year using cost per use as well as interlibrary loan borrowing data. These data support what is most important – faculty opinion. Subscriptions are renewed or newly established no later than mid-September but requests are welcomed at all times.

Recommendations can be made to library@mtu.edu or through the Recommend a Purchase form on the library's web page.  

Access

Using the library’s Web site aids in the identification of publications and resources licensed by the library on behalf of students and faculty. Materials can be identified through the catalog or through “Search” which is an easy-to-use discovery layer that searches our catalog and external resources. There are alphabetic listings of our e-journals and databases. Guides are also created for courses or special topics such as EndNote, Digital Measures or Citation Analysis. Our librarians will be pleased to develop Guides for instructor courses or topics.

When off-campus, linking to the literature from the library’s Web site is essential to authenticate to the university’s network using the Michigan Tech Username and ISO password.

Faculty have access to all physical collections within the library. Most items may be borrowed. Generous loan periods and renewals are provided as are courtesy notices when an item is due back to the library.

Interlibrary Loan

When materials are unavailable in the library or through our licensed resources, there are two ways to order: The Michigan eLibrary (MeLCat) is a self-service system for ordering books, DVD, CDs and more. The delivery time is approximately 10 days. Because many of Michigan’s public libraries, in addition to most Michigan academic libraries, participate, MeLCat is a wonderful resource for children and family needs. The faculty member’s interlibrary loan, or ILL account, can also be used to order books and other returnables but it is the primary service for ordering articles. An order can be placed directly into the ILL system and there are links “HuskyFetch” from Google Scholar and all of our databases to automatically capture the citation for an ILL order. There is normally no charge for MeLCat or ILL requests. Occasionally when the number of requests exceed the copyright limit, the requestor will be asked to pay the copyright fee, less a $40.00 subsidy from the library. Turnaround time for articles averages 10.5 hours. There is also a rush service choice on the ILL request form for faculty Monday through Friday for occasions when the need is very urgent. The staff aims to fill these requests within four hours. Library staff will also scan articles from the library’s print collections and deliver these to faculty via ILL and free of charge. Family members 18 years of age or older are welcome to their own, free Courtesy Borrower’s Card for borrowing Van Pelt and Opie Library materials as well as MeLCat.

Proxy Services

Faculty are able to identify a proxy for borrowing the library’s materials or to order within ILL system. Consider identifying a proxy annually to save time.

Course Reserves

The library can help lower the cost to students of textbooks. Print course reserves and e-reserves are available. While the library does not systematically purchase required textbooks, instructors may place their own copies on reserve. Instructors can also establish the length of the loan period that best meets the size of a class. The library’s growing e-book collections may also be a source for identifying a textbook. All e-books are cataloged and most have multi-user licenses.

Reference and Consultation Services

The library offers reference services on-site, via e-mail and through chat. Specially trained Student Research Consultants are popular with their peers and maintain a desk in the lobby of the library. Librarians are also available for reference and also offer specialized consultation services. Copyright, archival research or EndNote are popular consultations. Collectively, these services are called “Ask Us” which appears on the front of our Web site.

Instruction Support

Our librarians and archivists are especially enthusiastic to support students’ information literacy needs. We collaborate with faculty to develop active and meaningful programs within formal courses from General Education through upper level courses as well as graduate studies. Methods range from in-class instruction, video tutorials or streaming video. Instructional support, as well as the array of library services, can be used for online learners as well. Contact us to discuss the possibilities.

Copyright and Author’s Rights

In addition to workshops offered throughout the year, the librarians are pleased to share the range of options concerning the use of text, illustrations, audio, video and other protected works in their courses – in the classroom or through Canvas. They are also able to assist faculty concerning author’s rights and copyright for publication and creative works. Our Copyright Guide provides further details.

Digital Commons@Michigan Tech

This campus repository is available for a variety of uses of interest to faculty. Most theses, dissertations and master’s reports are available openly and provide global visibility for Michigan Tech’s student publications. This open access model is available for faculty publications to appreciably increase visibility of their work. This platform can provide access and preservation of publications, course materials, data sets and research project organization and make compliance with Federal agency requirements easy. Contact us to learn more about this resource.

Library Technologies

The library has Windows, Macintosh and Linux computer workstations. Login can be through the Michigan Tech Username and ISO password or a generic, anonymous login. The library maintains an array of shared equipment including a wide format scanner, 3-D printers and scanners, and a self-service poster printer. There are modest charges for poster printing.

Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC)

The library has one of the few Department of Commerce PTRCs in a rural area with access to skilled librarians and specialized databases unavailable elsewhere. A resource for faculty or students, the PTRC is a good place to begin thinking about patents. Workshops are held periodically throughout the year as well.

Revised:
01/12/2023 - Updated library contacts as follows: added Digital Commons information; removed Digital Measures, Instruction Support, and Recommendations; changed Service Center (1st row in table and throughout document) to Circulation Desk, Service Center (2nd row in table and throughout document) to Technical Assistance, and Interim Director to Library Director. Revised building information to reference two (not three) classrooms - Library 244, an instructional classroom, and 243, an experimental classroom. Changed gender references to non-gender and interloan (ILLiad) references to interlibrary loan (ILL). In the interlibrarly loan section, changed "circulating" to "borrowing" when referencing what the borrow's card is for. Under course reserves, added print course reserves and e-reserves as being available. Under instructional support added archivists. Updated library technologies to reflect what is currently available: removed number (over 270) of workstations, the sentence that high speed internet was upgraded in 2015, and planetary scanner; revised costs for poster printing by removing consumables associates with some of the devices. Removed Digital measures as this is no longer under the library.
05/24/2019 - Updated information library service center details to mention the new TAC.
12/13/2017 - Annual Review: To reflect current practice: Changed "University Librarian, ebmarks@mtu.edu" to "Interim Director, jhodges@mtu.edu" Added "events" to "...with library staff for events, exhibits, and displays, including digital displays." Changed "...an experimental classroom can be reserved for..." to "...an experimental classroom #243 can be reserved for..." Changed "While not a “just in case” research library, the collections, particularly the journal collections, are carefully assessed throughout the year using use data as well as interloan borrowing data." to "While not a “just in case” research library, the collections—particularly the journal collections—are carefully assessed throughout the year using cost per use as well as interloan borrowing data." Changed "Recommendations can be made to library@mtu.edu or through each department’s liaison." to "Recommendations can be made to library@mtu.edu or through the Recommend a Purchase form on the library's web page." Added "Faculty have access to all physical collections within the library. Most items may be borrowed. Generous loan periods and renewals are provided as are courtesy notices when an item is due back to the library." to the "Access" section. Added "Cat" to "MeLCatCat" throughout document. Changed "...the requestor will be charged for the copyright fee..." to "...the requestor will be asked to pay the copyright fee..." Changed "Library staff will also scan articles from the library’s print collections and deliver these to faculty from ILLiad free of charge." to "Library staff will also scan articles from the library’s print collections and deliver these to faculty via ILLiad free of charge." Added "most" to "All e-books are cataloged and most have multi-user licenses." Added "(PTRC)" to "Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC)" header. Changed "Measures questions and challenges and offer methods to make publication entry easier." to "Measures questions and offer methods to make publication entry, or citing references, easier."
03/17/2017 - Annual Review: Changed email to reflect current practices deleted cooper@mtu.edu from University Archives. Added "Digital Measures" and "dm-admin@mtu.edu" to the Library Contacts. Former language "Van Pelt and Opie Library (Building) The Library building is open 24/7 for University students, faculty and staff. Departments within the library have specific hours posted on www.mtu.edu/librarv. These include the University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections; the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning and the University Testing Center; the Library Cafe; and the IT Team at the Library and IT Service Center. The library is staffed for basic services throughout its hours of operation. On major holidays and breaks the library has reduced hours. However, faculty and students can enter the Opie Reading Room from the library's west side entrance with their HuskyCard when the main building is closed. Tours are available throughout the week but faculty are invited for personalized tours and consultation with subject specialist librarians or archivists; send a message to librarv@mtu.edu with times that fit your schedule. The library offers a variety of events and exhibits through the year and welcomes faculty who may wish to sponsor or collaborate on events, exhibits and displays in our highly visible and heavily trafficked library. The library is always interested in sponsoring and publicizing faculty events that highlight their use of library or archival resources, book signings, research highlights or events that will bring the campus together. Access to the Literature, Scholarly and Scientific Resources The library endeavors to provide faculty and their students with the information resources and publications required for their current and likely future research needs and support for the curricula through several methods: Access Using our web site aids in the identification of publications and resources licensed by the library on behalf of faculty, staff, and students. The catalog, and alphabetic listings of databases and e-journals and Guides to subject areas or tools (e.g., EndNote) are all available. When off-campus or traveling, starting with the web site assures ease of authentication using your ISO login and password. Interlibrary Loan Borrowing is provided free of charge with no limitation as to number for faculty members. Rush services are available within your ILLiad account, this allows articles to be delivered within four hours during specified times each day. Occasionally, copyright charges exceed $40.00 and faculty are asked to assume the additional cost. The library endeavors to provide articles within 24 hours, most are delivered within 12 hours (Monday - Friday with increased turn-around time on the weekends). Books typically take one week to 10 days. The faculty member's ILLiad account is used for interlibrary loan borrowing and for the library's document delivery service which scans articles from the library's print collection and retrieves materials from the circulating collections for pick up or campus delivery. The Michigan elibrary (MeLCat), composed of the research libraries and public libraries within Michigan, is self-service from which books, CD and DVDs can be ordered. When searching the library's databases, look for the HuskyFetch icon. While this typically leads to the full-text, when it doesn't the citation will be captured automatically for use for your ILLiad order. Requests and recommendations Recommendation for purchases are welcomed through this form http://www.mtu.edu/library/services/recommend-a-purchase/? via library@mtu.edu or through conversation with a librarian. Additionally, ILL borrowing requests (via ILLiad) or books or media include an option for faculty to recommend purchase of titles that contribute to research and/or teaching at Michigan Tech. The library will make every effort to maintain collections and licenses that are responsive to current and likely future research and curriculum support needs. Use and ILL borrowing data are also elements in shaping our collections and resource licenses. Instruction Support Information Literacy Librarians offer a variety of innovative library instruction options to support the integration of information literacy learning into both undergraduate and graduate programs. Orientations to the University Archives and specialized instruction focused on archival materials is available. As information literacy is one of the University's eight undergraduate learning goals, librarians are eager to work with faculty to innovate. Approaches such as librarian-led instruction, customized course guides to highlight the resources most relevant to student needs, video tutorials, consultations with faculty, assistance with supplemental material selection, and workshops are available to support both general education and discipline-based courses to save faculty time and increase student success and confidence. A full list of the instruction services available can be found on the library's web site. Copyright in the Classroom Librarians are pleased to assist faculty members in understanding their options concerning the use of text, illustrative, audio, visual and other protected works in their courses (both within the classroom and in Canvas) as well as for publication and creative works. Regularly held workshops, information guides and personalized consultations are available. See the library's copyright guide for details. Education Spaces Two instruction rooms are dedicated to information literacy instruction and independent student study and collaboration during the academic semesters. These spaces can be reserved for personal use during breaks only. The Experimental Education Environment can be reserved for a semester for faculty seeking to innovate pedagogically or technologically with approximately 15 learners of teams. Contact library@mtu.edu for further information. Reserves The library offers print and e-reserves services. Instructors can request materials for reserves. While the library has some textbooks in its collection when they are germinal to a field, the library does not purchase copies of required text books. When instructors wish to place their copies of required textbooks on reserve, the library staff will return these at the conclusion of each semester. While the books are in the reserves the instructor can set the loan period to optimize access for their students. This service is greatly appreciated by students. University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections
The University Archives contains a wide array of print, graphic and manuscript collections focused on the University and campus life, towns and cities of the Keweenaw Peninsula as well as the companies, social organizations, events and persons of the Copper Country and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Particular strengths include collections from the Quincy Mining Company and the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, an extensive collection of regional newspapers on microfilm, public records from six counties in the Western U.P. and the area's largest collection of local history books and magazines. The Keweenaw Digital Archives offers over 13,000 photographs reflecting these subject and topical strengths. Digital Commons@Michigan Tech This campus repository is available for a variety of uses of interest to faculty. Currently, over 700 theses, master's reports and dissertations are available and provide global visibility for Michigan Tech's student publications. This open access model is available to faculty that wish to support open access and significantly increase access and heightened visibility of their work. This includes: publications, data preservation, and research project organization to effectively comply with federal mandates. Many major publishers enable authors to publish their work both within their institution's repository as well as journals or disciplinary repositories. Digital Commons@Michigan Tech has been successfully used to manage a conference, registration, the peer-review process and publication of proceedings. Contact the Library to learn more about this resource. Patent and Trademark Resource Center The library is an official Department of Commerce center offering in-depth patent and trademark searching assistance with a librarian available by appointment. Access is provided to specialized databases along with other reference materials. Focused workshops are offered each semester. Contact reflib@mtu.edu or 906-487-2507 for more information. Library Technologies The library currently has over 270 computer workstations offering both ISO login and anonymous login. Specialized computers offer tools including Adobe's Creative Suite and Learning Suite and Captivate. Black and white printing is free of charge; color printing is .25. Scanning and copiers are available in the alcoves on the first and second floors. A touch-screen planetary scanner is available as is a wide-format scanner and 3-D printer. Microfilm/fiche reader and printers include search software. The library also has a self-­service poster printer. Staff is available for assistance as is scheduled personalized consultation."
12/08/2016 - Annual Review: Changed email to reflect current email addresses from "servicedesk" to "library@mtu.edu" Lower-cased "Library" throughout document. Changed "interdisciplinary faculty together" to "the campus together". Added "staff" to "...resources licensed by the library on behalf of faculty, staff, and students." in the Access section. Added "Rush services are available within your ILLiad account, this allows articles to be delivered within four hours during specified times each day." to the Interlibrary Loan section. Changed "48 hours" to "24 hours". Grammar edits made throughout the document. Edited the Education Spaces section from "Although the library is unable to support semester-long scheduled classes, our Experimental Education Environment (E3) is a new experimental space offering state-of-the-art furnishings, media and technology. Consultation from IT Media Services and/or the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning provide technological or pedagogical support when desired. The space can be used for 15 learners and an instructor and has been demonstrated to be very effective also for team-based learning including student-led group activities." to "Two instruction rooms are dedicated to information literacy instruction and independent student study and collaboration during the academic semesters. These spaces can be reserved for personal use during breaks only. The Experimental Education Environment can be reserved for a semester for faculty seeking to innovate pedagogically or technologically with approximately 15 learners of teams. Contact library@mtu.edu for further information." Added "While the books are in the reserves the instructor can set the loan period to optimize access for their students. This service is greatly appreciated by students." to the Reserves section. Changed "12,000" to "13,000" in the University Archives and Cooper Country Historical Collections section. Changed "500" to "700" in the Digital Commons@Michigan Tech section. Added " This includes: publications, data preservation, and research project organization to effectively comply with federal mandates." to the Digital Commons@Michigan Tech section. Added "or disciplinary repositories" to the sentence "... institution's repository as well as journals or disciplinary repositories." Added "and 3-D printer" to the Library Technologies section.
02/04/2015 - Annual Review: To reflect current practice, the email address for questions is now policy@mtu.edu. Under Interlibrary Loan: "The Library endeavors to provide articles within 48 hours." Now reads: "The Library endeavors to provide articles within 48 hours, most are delivered within 12 hours (Monday - Friday with increased turn-around time on the weekends)." "... which scans articles from the Library's print collection" now reads " ... which scans articles from the Library's print collection and retrieves materials from the circulating collections for pick up or campus delivery." " ... DVD's can be ordered." now reads " ... DVD's can be ordered. When searching the Library's databases, look for the HuskyFetch icon. While this typically leads to the full-text, when it doesn't the citation will be captured automatically for use for your ILLiad order." Under Requests and Recommendations: Deleted "Requests for purchases can be sent to librarv@mtu.edu. Additionally, ILL borrowing requests are studied in order to ascertain need. Faculty are encouraged to use this system or to explicitly share their needs." Added: " Recommendation for purchases are welcomed through this form http://www.mtu.edu/library/services/recommend-a-purchase/? via library@mtu.edu? or through a conversation with a librarian. Additionally, ILL borrowing requests (via ILLiad) or books or media include an option for faculty to recommend purchase of titles that contribute to research and/or teaching at Michigan Tech." " ... responsive to current research and curriculum ..." now reads " ... responsive to current and likely future research and curriculum ...". Under Copyright in the Classroom: " ... assist faculty in ..." now reads " ... assist faculty members in ...". " ... works in their course (as well as for publications and creative works)" now reads " ... works in their courses (both within the classroom and in Canvas) as well as for publication and creative works." "Details are available in the Library's copyright guide and personalized consultation is available" now reads "Regularly held workshops, information guides and personalized consultations are available. See the library's copyright guide for details."
05/07/14 - Annual Review: Entire section was re-written and re-organized. "Highlights of the Building" now reads "Van Pelt and Opie Library (Building)" and moved after Quick Contacts for Faculty. "Access to the Literature, Scholarly and Scientific Resources" now includes paragraphs called "Access, Interlibrary Loan, and Requests and Recommendations". Added sections "Copyright in the Classroom," "Education Spaces," "Reserves," "University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections," "Digital Commons@Michigan Tech," "Patent and Trademark Resource Center," and "Library Technologies". Deleted "Instruction and Learning Support".
02/26/2014 - Annual Review: Updated Michigan Tech and Handbook banners. Section "9.5.6 Van Pelt and Opie Library" was renumbered to read "9.5.7 Van Pelt and Opie Library".
03/28/2013 - Annual Review: The section title "Van Pelt and Opie Library, University Archives and E-learning" now reads "Van Pelt and Opie Library" and the entire section was re-written to reflect current practice.
07/20/2011 - Annual Review: Was previously 9.6.7. J. Robert Van Pelt Library is now Van Pelt and Opie Library and the section was re-written to reflect current practice. To reflect current University titles and practice, MTU is now Michigan Tech and the email address for questions is now hbwebmaster.