About the Library

Mahoney Library, which opened in 1969, houses a collection of over 140,200 volumes and 80,500 units of microfilm/microfiche. The library also subscribes to 885 periodical titles. It is a member of the New Jersey Highlands Regional Library Cooperative. This cooperative currently covers a seven county area in the state and has over 500 members. Access to the holdings of other library collections is available through the OCLC international on-line database system.

The library network provides on-line access to information in periodicals and books in a wide variety of fields including education, psychology, nursing and allied health, ethics, and other areas that support the undergraduate and graduate curricula. Seven state-of-the art computers provide full Internet access (via Netscape) to the vast resources of the Internet. In addition, there is access to the Encyclopedia Britannica Online, ProQuest Direct and the FirstSearch subscription database services that cover periodical indexing, abstracting and the full text of articles through an array of over 60 databases.

The library is a member of VALE, the Virtual Academic Library Environment of New Jersey. VALE provides remote access to seven web based databases; the on-line catalogs of New Jersey academic libraries and an array of carefully selected Internet sites. The library also supports DIALOG, on-line database searching. CoolCAT, a shared on-line public access catalog provides access to the library collections of the College of Saint Elizabeth and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

A computerized interlibrary loan service extends the resources of the Mahoney Library by making available the resources of other libraries through reciprocal borrowing using a courier service for book delivery, and rapid electronic document delivery for periodical articles through the use of Ariel software. Eight state-of-the art laser printer networked computers located on the ground level of the library allow access to word processing and spreadsheet application software.

Mahoney Library is a depository for selected U.S. documents, including those issued by the U.S. Department of Education. The audiovisual collections include 3,428 sound recordings, films, filmstrips, and videotapes. The library also houses the Phillips Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts some of which date back to the fifteenth century. A 300 seat lecture facility know as the Octagon is directly adjacent to the library.

The library is open day and evening during the week and on the weekends at selective hours for student and faculty convenience. The three floors of the air-conditioned library were designed to be handicapped accessible. A professional library staff is always available to offer reference assistance in using both traditional printed materials as well as electronic resources.