The Library at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR), CAS, is the largest professional library in Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Science in China, with a total area of 2,200 square meters. Its predecessor originated from a little reference room established by the Institute of Geography of China in 1940.
The Library consists of four functional departments, namely, the Book Collection Department, the Consulting Department of the Information, the Subject Service Department, and the Archives Room, as well as four document areas including the open-shelf book room, the map reference room, the ancient books and the comprehensive reading room with more than 120 reading seats.
Spatial layout of the library
By the end of 2021, the library had a total of 940,300 collections of books and periodicals, maps and data, forming a comprehensive collection system that basically covers geographical sciences, resource sciences, environmental sciences, ecology and other disciplines, and contains a wide variety of document types and carrier forms. Some of these collections are characteristic and among the top in China. There are 5,700 statistical yearbooks of the national, provincial, prefectural levels, 8,000 local chronicles of county level and above since 1980, 6,200 national hydrological data, 61,036 unpublished research reports including field scientific surveys, experimental data, professional conference materials and internal journals from the Institute or other research institutions since the1950s, 15,989 ancient books, 3,286 doctoral and master's theses, 5,600 sets of specific maps, more than 500 foreign language atlas, 600 literatures in MinGuo period, and 1,500 kinds of microform data.
Special collections
Besides printed documents, the library has also obtained a large number of domestic and foreign databases, overshadowing all other libraries of its kind in China. Through the library, 94 databases can be accessed online, such as AGU, Elsevier, Nature, Science, PNAS, OUP, Springer, Wiley, CNKI, Proquest, Web of Science, EI, SuperStar databases. The library is now capable of providing abundant digital resources, network services.
The library has joined the automatic integrated bibliographic data management system (ALEPH500). To realize the one-site discovery and acquisition of printed and digital resources available in the library, the integrated management system of printed and digital resources is independently planned and developed on the technology of professional companies. It has a training course system of practical professional literature retrieval and utilization with 21 class hours, which has become a compulsory course for doctoral students. More than 1,000 people participate in the training every year.
Unified Automation System (left) and intelligent search system of integrated resources (right)
According to the needs for discipline development strategy of IGSNRR, in line with the service concept of "Love and dedication, systematic standardization, people-oriented, quality first, independent innovation", the library aims to comprehensively improve the ability of sustainable development, provide more high-quality deep services for scientific and technical personnel, and actively carry out the transformation and upgrading from traditional services to modern information analysis services. Up to now, it has provided 30 information analysis consulting research reports for scientific data management and policy, international knowledge service center construction planning, grassland ecology development, the Belt and Road energy strategy and other research fields, achieving the development goal of in-depth knowledge service.
Knowledge service-cluster analyses on research field
