The Mount Allison Libraries book collection includes over a half-million volumes in print and over twenty-thousand ebooks.
Books in both print and digital formats are accessible through the Library Catalogue.
For more information, please see the Find Books page.
The Mount Allison Libraries subscribe to over 80 databases providing access to approximately 33,000 journals in digital format. Library databases also provide access to streaming video, historical newspapers, and a variety of primary source material.
Current issues of journals, magazines and newspapers received in print format are displayed alphabetically in stands on the ground floor of the R.P. Bell Library and in the Music Library. Back issues of all print journals are shelved according to call number on the ground floor and basement levels of the R.P. Bell Library and in the Music Library.
In addition to books and journals, the Mount Allison Libraries collections include a wide selection of audio visual materials. The Music Library houses over 11,500 printed music scores and provides access to thousands of audio recordings. The R.P. Bell Library also has a growing collection of motion pictures and documentaries.
In addition to providing access to thousands of subscription-based magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals, the Mount Allison Libraries also facilitate access to the growing number of open access journals available for free on the Internet.
Please visit the Open Access Collections page for more details.
Libraries provide access to more and more information in digital format. Still, not all of the information required by scholars, researchers and students is available online. A lot of information remains accessible only (or primarily) in formats other than digital.
The Mount Allison Libraries’ collection of over 80,000 microfilm and microfiche units includes titles such as the New York Times and London Times, smaller local newspapers dating back to the eighteenth century, early census records, and much more.
Microfilm and microfiche materials are located in the Microform Room on the ground floor of the R.P. Bell Library. Library staff in the Journals Office (ground floor) are available to assist users with the equipment and materials in the Microform room.
The R. P. Bell Library is a full depository library for publications of the Canadian Federal Government. Publications are obtained selectively from local & regional government, the provinces, other countries, IGOs, NGOs and other organizations.
For a more detailed description of the collection see the Government Documents Collections Policy. The library is also a member of the DLI (Data Liberation Initiative) providing access to electronic data files from Statistics Canada and other federal sources. For details see the DLI page.
Access to other government information on the Internet is available through the Government Information & Statistics page.
For assistance with government information ask at the Research Help Desk or contact Anita Cannon, Government Documents Librarian, at 364-2572.
The Libraries and Archives’ largest Special Collections are The Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Collection of Canadiana, The Winthrop Pickard Bell Collection of Acadiana, The Mary Mellish Archibald Memorial Library of Folklore.
Among the smaller holdings are a collection of Newfoundlandia, collections of literature by John Galt and Will R. Bird, and other rare books.
The Mount Allison Libraries also makes available The Chignecto Isthmus: Its History and Culture, a database that provides access to historical material on the people and places of the Isthmus of Chignecto held by the R. P. Bell Bell Library.
For more information, please see the Special Collections page.
The Alfred Whitehead Music Library is located on the lower floor of the Marjorie Young Bell Conservatory of Music.
Please see the Music Library home page for more information.
The University Archives, located on the top floor of the R.P. Bell Library, acquires the inactive published and unpublished records of the University. The Archives also holds private records of local families, clubs, businesses and churches.
For more information, please see the Archives web page.
Librarians welcome your suggestions for additions to Library collections.
Suggestions for books and other materials may be made by contacting the appropriate subject librarian.
Monthly lists of new books, A-V materials, student theses and government publications added to the library collections are available on the New Books Lists page.
Need to know where in the building an item is located? Check out the Library Directory for a floor-by-floor guide to all library locations.
The Floor Plans provide a visual description of each floor in the R.P. Bell Library.