Knowledge Center at UNR much more than a library

The Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center is home of the University Libraries and is considered the technology hub of UNR. It is also home to the Information Technology Division of campus. Since its opening in 2008, the Knowledge Center has become the heart of campus and a cultural resource for the community.

The facility offers much more than a traditional library. Known as one of the most technologically advanced libraries in the country, the Knowledge Center contains books, journals and data in both print and electronic formats. With the other components of the University Libraries system, the Knowledge Center contains an incredible repository of educational tools and technology, helping best prepare our students for the new "media environment" of today's workforce.

Among other services, the 290,000-square-foot Knowledge Center houses the Basque Library, the Special Collections Department and University Archives, the Information Technology Department, the Wells Fargo Auditorium, more than 300 general access computers, the MARS automated retrieval system, Bytes Cafe, endless educational resources, and @One an entire floor dedicated to the latest advancements in multimedia technology. Here are just a few highlights:

* As the university prepares students with qualifications vital to a new economy, the Knowledge Center provides the "media environment" that is so essential to their learning and future career success. One of the most important aspects of the Knowledge Center is the floor that is designated @One. The goal of this media environment is to have every graduate skilled in basic multimedia production and the ability to use and interpret all forms of media. At @One, students take their' existing skills and hone them into professional qualifications vital to a new economy.

* The Special Collections Department contains the richest repository of Nevada artifacts and papers in existence. Writers, scholars, historians and members of the community can be found poring over primary-source materials found in Special Collections. Exhibits showcasing some of our most prized collections are displayed a few times a year, and are free and open to the public. Past exhibits have featured the Comstock papers, historical papers and images on Nevada's wild horses, and a variety of other exhibits related to our University and our State. Special Collections also produces a number of online exhibits for those who prefer to enjoy our materials via the comfort of a computer.

* The Basque Library is the leading library on Basque topics outside of the Basque Country. The library combines the advantages of the Knowledge Center's technologies with the strong relationships its faculty and staff have cultivated through the years to remain the main source of information on the Basque culture outside of the Basque Country.

* MARS. The Knowledge Center's Mathewson Automated Retrieval System (MARS) has the capability of delivering requested book titles with the touch of a button, in a matter of a few minutes. It allows for efficient, temperature-controlled storage and retrieval of up to 2 million books and works, freeing up more space for study, work and collaboration throughout the Knowledge Center.

* The Teaching & Learning Technologies Department has been awarded the Blackboard Exemplary Course Award the past four years, an international award that recognizes innovative and engaging online courses.

Besides all of the resources housed in the Knowledge Center, the University Libraries system includes valuable resources located elsewhere on campus:

* The DeLaMare Science and Engineering Library in the Mackay Mines Building, houses materials in the fields of chemical, civil, computer, electrical, geological, mechanical, metallurgical and mining engineering; earth sciences; chemistry; physics; and computer science. It is the first academic library in the United States to make the leap to offer 3D printing and scanning as a library service to all students, enabling students in a multitude of disciplines to make plastic 3D models from computer drawings for their research and studies.

* The Mary B. Ansari Map Library in the DeLaMare Library is home to more than 140,000 maps of the United States and the world.

* The Savitt Medical Library in the Pennington Medical Education Building is the only academic medical library in the state. Besides serving students, faculty and researchers in the University of Nevada School of Medicine, the library also serves many other constituencies in the state, under its designation by the National Library of Medicine as the Resource Library for health information in Nevada.

Staff at the Knowledge Center and university libraries prides themselves on assisting local businesses as part of our state's economic development initiative. Mining and high-tech industries in our state are regular users of the DeLaMare and Mary B. Ansari Map Libraries. Engineers, geologists, earth scientists and others also rely heavily on the resources provided by DeLaMare. Local construction projects depend on our maps to plan their projects. And, if you pull up a map of our state on Google Earth, there is a high probability it originated at DeLaMare.

Student work created at the Knowledge Center and University Libraries has not only appeared in local and international film festivals and other exhibitions, but has also been directed toward community service activities. Last year, student worker Bryce Leinan created a real-time Google map of the Caughlin fire. Bryce's map was not only an immense help to our community, but it was also groundbreaking, particularly in the use of crowdsourcing for this type of natural disaster.

For those of you who haven't yet had the opportunity to visit our Knowledge Center and other University Libraries resources, I invite you to come see us. You will have the chance to see firsthand how the University Libraries are working to strengthen our state's workforce by providing our students with some of the best educational and technology tools available.

Kathy Ray is dean of University Libraries, Teaching and Learning Technologies at the University of Nevada, Reno.