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RCMI Library: Steeped in History
The collection forms a corpus of military history, science and art maintained as a reference source, the largest privately funded and maintained library of its kind in Canada, and one of the larger in North America. It is for the study and enjoyment of those whose interest lies in the broadest sense of "military" and supplements the more modest or restricted military literature holdings of public or other libraries. It is unique, being supported largely through the RCMI membership and the RCMI Heritage Fund, plus money raised from in-house book auctions and sales. Its wide range of subject matter, Army, Navy, Air Force, training and equipment, tactics and strategy, uniforms, medals and war art, allows a detailed study of subjects not readily found elsewhere.
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The Library is available for use by those wishing to make use of its resources for research projects, scholarly or university assignments or to anyone with an interest in military affairs or history. Research projects cannot be undertaken by the Librarian, but guidance will be given to the extent possible, including making material available to the user. The Library will be closed as of June 18, 2010. It will reopen after the redevelopment project. | |||
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The Library uses Library of Congress classification system. The Library is fully automated, powered by Inmagic, and there is a terminal with an online catalogue available in-house. This catalogue will be accessible through the website for external use some time in the future. Interlibrary Loan service is available to members and other Libraries. Library loans are suspended for the duration of the redevelopment project, effective June 7, 2010. | |||
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The Library is but one part of the RCMI and, under the Board of Directors, is administered by a Chairman, who is a member of the Board, and a Library Committee of volunteers who are members of the Institute. A professional Librarian, Penny Lipman B.A., M.L.S., is on staff to design and maintain the online database, catalogue the collection and fulfill interlibrary loan requests. Penny also handles day-to-day operations, responds to reference queries, and ensures the safekeeping of the collection. She is also implementing new Library projects. Her office is on the Library Gallery. With his vast subject knowledge, Arthur Manvell, the RCMI Honorary Librarian, is frequently on hand to answer research questions and process donations. | |||
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The Library is receptive to gifts of military books from members and non-members alike. These often come from persons down-sizing their collection and from estates. Tax receipts are available only for those books deemed suitable for the permanent collection. New books from publishers, authors or members are also gratefully received. In general, the acquisition policy is that the Library welcomes books on any military related subject. However, we reserve the right to sell these books at our periodic in-house auctions if they do not suit the collection or are duplicates. These auctions and book sales raise funds to help support Library operations and projects, including new book purchases. Please note: Sorry, but we cannot accept non-military books, novels, textbooks or magazines. Military books cannot be Library discards, or books that have been underlined, highlighted, worn or damaged. Please contact the Librarian for donation information. We will not be accepting donations of used books for duration of the redevelopment project. New books from authors and publishers will still be greatfully received. These volumes will be catalogued and added to the collection during the close. | |||
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The Library is constantly looking for donations to help fund new and ongoing projects. These include the purchasing of new software to publish the catalogue to the website, and a project making copies of rare or fragile books available full-text online through Internet Archive.
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