November 10, 2009

The Boston Library Consortium is still currently resolving technical difficulties with a new interlibrary borrowing system. We’re sorry for the disruption in service this semester.

Not to worry though, you can still borrow from other libraries. In the meantime, Durham faculty, staff, and students should request using Worldcat or Interlibrary Loan. Please contact the Reference Department at 862-1544 if you have any questions. You can also email, text message, or IM a librarian.

(If you need to find them in the future, WorldCat is available under our list of Databases and Interlibrary Loan is found under Services on the UNH Library website.)

Manchester faculty, staff, and students should request using the UNH-M Library website.

The original system for searching and borrowing through the Boston Library Consortium was called the Virtual Catalog. The Virtual Catalog provided a single, searchable catalog of books owned by participating libraries.

The new system, which we’re planning on calling the Boston Library Consortium Catalog, allows you to simultaneously find materials owned by UNH Libraries, BLC libraries, libraries throughout North America, and beyond. Items requested from BLC libraries will generally be available in three to five business days. In addition, you will be able to make ILL requests for items not held by BLC libraries through the very same interface. Boston College, MIT, and other BLC libraries unable to participate in the previous Virtual Catalog will now be able to participate.

When the new system for searching the Boston Library Consortium launches, we hope you’ll be pleased with the improvements.

September 22, 2009

The Boston Library Consortium (BLC) has responded to the recent Google Book Settlement [pdf].

The BLC is an association of 19 academic and research libraries located in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire and includes the University of New Hampshire Library.

The BLC is the only academic library consortium that spoke out against the Google Book Settlement by sending a letter of concern to the Department of Justice, Antitrust division, noting that the Settlement will have a significant negative impact on libraries and to ask that the Settlement agreement be rejected. The letter notes that the Authors Guild, Inc and the Association of American Publishers, Inc., had opportunity to make significant contributions to the Settlement, but libraries did not.

From the letter:

The BLC believes that an educated society needs access to knowledge and that prices for that access must be reasonable. The Settlement Agreement as it currently stands does not adequately protect library purchasing of materials… [and] does not address the issue of open access, a priority for many academic institutions, especially with regard to materials that are out of print or “orphan” works.

For more information or to discuss this, please contact the Dean of the UNH Library, and Boston Library Consortium Executive Board Member, Sherry Vellucci.

July 15, 2009

The Virtual Catalog provides a searchable catalog of books owned by participating libraries of the Boston Library Consortium.

Originally scheduled for July 15, the rollout of a new Virtual Catalog has been delayed, unfortunately, as we work with the Boston Library Consortium and their software vendor to resolve some critical problems.

We hope to have the Virtual Catalog return by the fall semester renamed as the Boston Library Consortium Catalog. When a firm date is available, we will post another announcement.

In the meantime, please use Interlibrary Loan to request materials unavailable at the UNH Library. Manchester students should request using the UNH-M Library website.

Thank you for your patience as we upgrade to a much improved search interface and requesting system. If you have questions or concerns, please comment here or contact the Loan Desk at 862-3125.

October 30, 2008

The Virtual Catalog search is temporarily unavailable. We apologize and thank you for your patience and understanding.

The Virtual Catalog provides a single, searchable catalog of books owned by participating libraries of the Boston Library Consortium. Current students/faculty/staff and other qualified patrons of these libraries may directly request material.

Update: the Virtual Catalog is back online.

October 8, 2008

An article about the University Library is currently featured in the Campus Journal:

Dimond Library Going Digital and Creating Its Own Repository

The story, which includes quotes from Sherry Vellucci, Dean of the Library, discusses the Library’s Digital Collections Initiative, its participation in a partnership with the Boston Library Consortium and the Open Content Alliance, and campus-wide plans to develop an insitutional repository as part of a national movement toward creating open access to scholarly work.