Faculty Resources | Schaffer Library

Schaffer Library can partner with you on your research and teaching needs. Our collections and services can help you meet research goals, foster learning outcomes, and stay aware of the latest ideas and trends in your field. Learn more about our collections, resources for teaching / instruction, and faculty research and scholarship, as well as our rare and unique items and services from Special Collections & Archives and the Permanent Collection & Mandeville Gallery.

Learn more about:

Library Collections & Purchasing | Teaching & Instruction | Research & Scholarship | Special Collections | Permanent Art Collection

Library Collections:

Books & Articles

Access to hundreds of thousands of books, journal articles, book reviews, and more. All of our items (print and electronic) are searchable in Primo, the library’s discovery tool.

Search Primo...

Film

The library has access to several streaming services, as well as an extensive DVD collection. Learn more about using films in classes and customized research needs with our research guide.

Search Films at Union...

Databases and primary sources

Search subject-specific databases like JSTOR, EconLit, IEEE, or ScienceDirect with our databases list. Databases of primary sources are also available here.

Search Databases A-Z...

Online popular newspapers and services

Union College community members can sign up for a personal subscription to sources such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg.com, and Chronicle of Higher Education.

See Periodicals with free personal accounts...

Suggest a Purchase

If we do not own the video you need, please use the Suggest a Purchase form below or contact Library Collections (librarycollections@union.edu) with your purchase request information.

Suggest a Purchase form...

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Resources for Teaching / Instruction:

Instruction Sessions

Teach with the Library

Librarians are available to answer questions about sources, consult on our materials, host workshops, and meet with your students regarding how to find sources and navigate our collections online. We are available by phone, email, and appointment to work with you and your students.

Teach with the Library

Customized Library Guides (LibGuides)

LibGuides allow librarians to gather, organize, and share library and web resources like research databases and explanatory videos. Our subject and course guides assist researchers and research-based classes by pairing relevant resources with overviews on how to research. Email reference@union.edu for questions or to request a guide.

Browse LibGuides

Course affordability and course materials

Library course materials

Millions of resources are free for students and faculty to use in Union College courses. The Library is available to help you find physical and digital materials for your classes, whether those materials are already available at Union or available elsewhere.

Course Affordability & Schaffer Library

Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Learn more about freely available textbooks and other resources that help lower the cost of classes for students.

Open Educational Resources

Data sets

The library can offer assistance in locating and acquiring data for teaching and research needs. Email us to tell us more about your data needs.

Email reference@union.edu

RefWorks

RefWorks is a citation and bibliography manager that allows users to create their own online database of citations that can be organized and used in writing a paper or article. Learn more with our LibGuide to RefWorks.

Connect to RefWorks

Copyright for faculty

Learn more about copyright, fair use, and classroom applications.

Copyright for Faculty Guide

Off-Campus Access

Our resources are available from off-campus without the use of a VPN (though some faculty and students abroad may need to use the campus VPN). Use Primo to find what you need, and then log in when prompted.

Connect from off-campus

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Faculty Research and Scholarship:

Faculty Research and Scholarship

Research Data Management

Schaffer Library offers a variety of services and resources to faculty as they conduct their research. View our guide to learn more about:

Research data management
Data management plans (DMPs)
Open publishing agreements and open access (OA) publishing

View our Faculty Research Data Management Services guide

ISBNs and ISSNs

Need an ISBN for an upcoming publication or an ISSN for a forthcoming journal? We can help!

Email library collections

Digital Scholarship at Schaffer Library

Digital scholarship is research and teaching that critically engages with data and computing technologies. Digital scholars employ computational tools and methods (such as 3D / AR / VR) to extend knowledge production, dissemination, and preservation, while also uncovering technology’s limitations, biases, and misuses to create a more just and equitable digital world.

Learn more about DSI

Center for Research Libraries (CRL)

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) offers topic guides listing a selection of key source materials that can support research in various areas. New citations are added from time to time; reformulated guides also provide an overview of the current “landscape” of information dissemination and collecting in particular fields, and reference selected online resources available through CRL.

CRL topic guides

HathiTrust

HathiTrust Digital Library contains over 17 million digitized items. HathtiTrust’s holdings are mainly books and articles, many of which are historical, full-text searchable, and downloadable. It is an essential repository of primary sources for historical research. The HathiTrust Research Center enables the collection to be text mined via such methods as topic modeling and named-entity recognition.

HathiTrust catalog

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Special Collections & Archives:

Teaching and research with SCA

Available to support faculty in utilizing special collections and archives in the online learning environment. We are able to offer instruction sessions on a variety of topics. Many of our collections are available online, and we can help integrate these resources into your course. Please reach out to AskSpecialCollections@union.libanswers.com.

Visit the SCA website

Adirondack Research Library

The Adirondack Research Library is available to visit by appointment. It has a selection of its collection available online for use in research and teaching.

Visit the ARL's website

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Permanent Art Collection & Mandeville Gallery

Teaching and research with the permanent collection and gallery

Our collections are available to support faculty with methods of integrating artwork from the permanent collections or gallery exhibitions within teaching. Please contact the ucpc@union.edu for more information.

Permanent Collection Online

A selection of collections are available online through our website.

View our collections

Consultations and Artwork Discussions

Consult with you or students regarding study and research of Collection items or present Permanent Collection artwork to class groups for in-depth examination and discussion.