About the Library
Renmin University Library was founded in 1937. The library now has 15 reading rooms in which there are more than 1,800 seats. These reading rooms are responsible for services such as borrowing, consultation, inter-library loans, help with information requests, searches, binding, audio-visual services, and so on. At the end of 1999 the university established a new local network that adopts the UNICORN software system of the US SIRSI Company and SUN mainframe equipment, this network environment provides all the necessary functions for a convenient and prompt library service.
The RUC Library is one of 16 document repositories under the aegis of the Department of Education. The library has a book collection of 2,500,000 copies, covering all central fields of inquiry such as the humanities, the social sciences, economics, and administration. The holdings are especially strong in economics, law, philosophy, and history. The library has collected more than 3,000 essential periodicals. It has 300,000 titles in foreign languages, including English, Japanese, Russian, French, and German texts. In the library there are 400,000 thread-bound classical books, and more than 30,000 copies of rare books.
The library also has a rich collection of electronic resources; this includes access to more than 200 data bases and disk-based materials from networks both at home and abroad. The contents of these data bases include the humanities and social sciences, covering disciplines such as politics, economics, law, education, cultural studies, to name but a few. To facilitate the use of the collection, the library has established a set of ordered resource bases and data bases. In accordance with the RUC's needs as it services the state's demands, the library collects, selects, processes and orders academic resources by key subjects in the network. The network can be accessed through different types of digital resources such as the navigation system that allows the searching of key subjects within the network, and various integration systems that make use of data bases, booklists, and so on. Thus, the library offers convenient access so that readers can effectively use the digital resources of the library.
The RUC Library is also the seat of the Secretariat of the Working Committee of the Colleges and Universities in Beijing. It has substantial connections with the other libraries of the various colleges and universities within the municipality. It is also a member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and has set up exchange relationships with 58 other colleges, universities, and research institutions.
