2005-06 - Office of the Registrar - Duke University

The Lilly Library houses the university’s research collections for the visual arts, art
history, philosophy, and theater studies. The primary film, video, and media collection for
the Perkins Library System is also housed in Lilly. This collection numbers more than 14,000
feature films, documentaries, experimental and animated titles, and is international and
interdisciplinary in scope. Media viewing facilities, including U.S. and foreign format VHS
and DVD players, are located on Lilly’s first floor. Lilly Library also maintains a general
reference collection and a periodicals collection that numbers over 350 titles. A rotating
collection of current literature titles is located in the lobby.
The Music Library, located in Room 113 of the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building, and
the Music Media Center, located in Room 027 of the same building house a music collection
which stands at over 110,000 volumes (including books, music scores, and bound journals),
plus about 10,000 microform units (including microfilm, microfiche, and a small collection
of microcards). Current journal subscriptions alone comprise about 200 current titles, and
ongoing serials as a whole (including national monuments, composer editions, and other
series and sets) total about 400 titles. The media collection is presently comprised of about
20,000 sound recordings (including 6,000 CDs), more than 340 music videos, 200 laser
disks, and a collection of educational software. The music collection is intended primarily
for teaching and research in the areas of musicology, historical performance practice, and
composition; it is very strong in keyboard music (monographs as well as scores), music and
art, musical instruments, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), the Strauss Family
(Johann Sr. and Jr., Eduard, and Joseph), Viennese printing and publishing in the 19th
century, British music in general, Venetian music in the baroque and early classic periods,
and music of the Indian subcontinent.
The subject-focused branch libraries on the west campus (biological and environmental
sciences, chemistry, and engineering and mathematics/physics) collect books, journals, and
reference materials needed by scholars working in the corresponding disciplines. Access to
networked electronic resources and specialized databases is also available in the branches.
The libraries at Duke, North Carolina Central University, the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University are connected by a computer
network. Members of the Duke community can easily and quickly determine what books and
other library materials are held by UNC, NCCU, and NCSU. Through a reciprocal
borrowing agreement, faculty and students at Duke may borrow materials from all three of
these libraries.
Reference librarians are on duty at Perkins Library for most of the hours the library is
open. Their primary responsibility is to assist patrons in making the most effective use of
library collections and facilities. In addition to answering specific questions, the reference
librarians also help patrons access information by identifying and explaining the use of
library sources and by giving formal and informal instruction to groups of students,
faculty, or staff. Reference service is also available to students in all other campus
libraries.
Tours of the Perkins Library are given frequently during Orientation Week and upon
request throughout the year. Information about other campus libraries may be obtained
from the staff in each of the libraries. The library has both facsimile and copying services.
The rules with regard to copyright and a schedule of fees for reproduction services are
available in the library at the point of service.
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
The Duke University Archives, the official archival agency of the university, and a
division of the Duke University Libraries, collects, preserves, and administers the records
of the university having continuing administrative or historical value. The institutional
archives, which also include published material, photographs, papers of student groups
and faculty, and selected memorabilia, are available for research under controlled
conditions in 341 Perkins Library.
292 Resources for Study