THE LIBRARY

The library service, begun in the 1970s, offers both physical documents and links to virtual materials for Muniscope members as well as Canadian public libraries, universities, and provincial/territorial and federal employees (see the membership page for further details). Documents are requested electronically through the online catalogue, fax, or email, and the material is then disseminated via Canada Post, Purolator courier, fax, or email. Personal visitation to the library is only available with advance notice and approval of the librarian.

THE COLLECTION

The library's document collection includes more than 22,000 items culled together to meet the information needs of local government officials, provincial policy planners, urban and regional planners, and other professionals interested in municipal issues. It is Canada's finest circulating collection of books, reports, conference proceedings, and articles in a wide range of fields: urban and regional planning, local economic development, municipal legislation, municipal governance, housing, environment, rural development, and transportation studies and initiatives. The library also indexes online reports and articles, as many governmental and academic reports that traditionally appeared in print are now only available via the Internet. Many of the library's documents are difficult to find elsewhere.

The focus of the collection is predominantly on Canada and, to a lesser extent, the United States, Australia, and Europe. It is updated on a weekly basis to ensure that the most current information is made available. Select new books are highlighted on the new and noteworthy page. For a complete listing of new items added to the library catalogue, check out the new acquisitions search in the online catalogue.

For more information regarding the SMLG's collection development policy or to request that the SMLG purchase an item for the collection, please contact the librarian.

COPYRIGHT

The SMLG abides by the Canadian Copyright Act concerning the selection, collection and dissemination of material. In accordance with the Act and its rules for fair use, the library will not send documents electronically via email to non-patrons without written authorization from the copyright holder to do so. Copies of material are only provided for research purposes. For more information on the SMLG's copyright policy, please contact the librarian.