CUL Gateway: Olin Library

Olin Library
(John M. Olin Library)
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-5301

Information and reference tel.: (607) 255-4144
e-mail: okuref@cornell.edu
fax: (607) 255-2493
www: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/

Olin Library Floor Directory

Library Hours

Campus map showing the Olin Library location.

Kornelia Tancheva, Director of Olin and Uris Libraries; tel.: (607)255-3774
Holdings: 3,513,000 volumes (includes holdings for the Asia Collections in Kroch Library); 2.9 million microforms; 228,000 maps

More than half of Cornell University Library’s total collection is housed in Olin and Kroch Libraries. When CUL outgrew its space in the 1950s, Stephen McCarthy, the director, set out to build a modern research library. His plan became a reality with the opening of Olin Library in 1961. Since then the Olin collections have grown along with the rapid expansion of the university’s research and teaching programs.

The range of material in the Olin collections is broad, and the richness of its resources is impressive. The general collections represent the array of disciplines in social sciences and humanities, and extensive research-level materials are available in philosophy, religion, classics, government, political science, history, economics, history of science, linguistics, and literature. The holdings in literature from around the world are a scholar’s delight, especially the English literature collection, which is recognized as a national resource. Olin also houses fine collections of area-studies material, (e.g., its rapidly growing Slavic and Latin American collections).

The notably strong collection of reference materials includes more than 20,000 volumes in the reading room area and many thousands of volumes in the general collections. It features all of the national bibliographies available worldwide as well as an extensive collection of subject bibliographies and indexes. The Electronic Text Center features more than 100 full-text scholarly sources on CD-ROM, some of which are networked and available through the Library Gateway.

The Olin holdings are also particularly strong in national and international documents, especially those published by the United States government and by the United Nations and its related organizations. In addition, newspapers and maps from around the world are available in Olin as well as the Media Center which houses videos, DVDs, and non-musical sound recordings -- VCR's and DVD players are also available for viewing in-house. The microform collections -- microfiche, microfilm and microprint-- and viewers are also housed in the Media Center.