Welcome to your library and the myriad of resources available online and in the Briggs Library building at UMM! On behalf of the Library Staff, I want to invite you to explore the collections and services that comprise the library. Whether you visit us in person or electronically, we're anxious to play a vital role in your years at Morris-for class assignments, independent study, research and scholarship, continuous learning or personal enjoyment.

SUMMON, our online catalog, enables you to locate the 230,000+ items as well as the online resources purchased by the library (over 150 databases, over 20,000 e-journals and 5,414 eBooks). The library includes a variety of collections as well as areas for quiet study or group discussion. I recommend heading to the 1st or 4th floors to find a quiet study nook and to the 2nd and 3rd floors for group collaboration and discussion space. Use our computers for online research, writing papers, e-mail and internet exploration or bring your own laptop and use our wireless capability.

The library is much more than collections, databases and computers, however. We take pride in the services we offer. Librarians sitting at the reference desk (just inside the front door) or responding to "Ask a Librarian" e-mail or IM questions genuinely enjoy listening to descriptions of research or information challenges before providing advice. For access to a world-wide array of resources not available in our library, the Interlibrary Loan department is happy to request them for you from other libraries. Community users are also warmly welcomed at Briggs Library.

Please consider us as a partner in your research and learning and in making sense of the ever-changing world of information gathering and synthesizing. We also invite you to share your ideas for improving the library, its collection and services. Feel free to contact me at 320-589-6226 or email me at deanl@morris.umn.edu.

LeAnn Dean

Director, Rodney A. Briggs Library