Advice for First Years From The Class of 2013

The Best Business School Libraries

 

Vernon Jordan, a former advisor to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, once cracked that if you found him in his firm’s law library, you’d know that he was “hopelessly lost.” The proverbial insider, Jordan understood that his relationships, more than his legal knowledge, carried weight in the beltway.

You could say the same about MBA programs. Or, as the joke goes, ‘If you’re spending your days in the library, you’re doing b-school all wrong.’

That’s not to say that business school isn’t academically rigorous. On the contrary, it’s extremely time-consuming and mentally draining. And that’s because it’s not exclusively an academic exercise. It encompasses networking, job hunting, team-based learning, extracurriculars, and projects far beyond the usual lecture-read-write-grad school model.

Make no mistake: Reading and research is a big part of the MBA curriculum. That’s why a well-stocked library with well-trained staff is so important. Here, students can enjoy free digital subscriptions, research assistance, workshops and tutorials, database access, quiet study space and teched-out meeting rooms. And that doesn’t include these libraries’ collections of print and digital volumes, which can number in the millions!

Unless you aspire to teach, the b-school library probably isn’t on your recruitment checklist. But if you want to get the most out of business school, it pays to know the resources available to you (once you get through reading those hundreds of case studies, that is).

This week, BusinessResearchGuide.com released a ranking of the top 30 business school libraries in the United States. The rankings were based on four criteria:

• Size and Variety of Selections
• Associations and Reputation (Unique Collections, Connection to the Curriculum, Bloomberg Terminals, Workshops and Speakers, etc.)
• Special Features (Architecture, Kindle Availability, Classrooms, etc.)
• Additional Services (Subject and Research Specialists, Cafes, etc.)

And the winner? It’s MIT Sloan’s Dewey Library of Management & Social Science. Here is howBusinessResearchGuide.com describes their offerings:

“According to MIT, the Dewey Library of Management & Social Science is redefining the role of the 21st-century library. Though numerous carrels, tables, and study rooms are available for traditional student study, Dewey can also be accessed from classrooms, dorm rooms, or through the library’s mobile website. Inside the library, students can use technology-enabled rooms for collaborations or virtual meetings. To navigate the huge collection and extended network of MIT libraries, students are offered access to in-person consultations, frequent workshops, and online tutorials.

Print Volumes: 3 million in extended network

Digital Resources: More than 100 digital subscriptions

Public Access: Yes (limited)”

Trailing MIT’s Dewey Library is Cornell Johnson’s Management Library, which was lauded for its 8 million volume print collection; an “award-winning library staff” who can help with writing corporate briefs and business plans; and access to tools like Bloomberg, Capital IQ and Mintel. Rounding out the top three is USC Marshall’s Crocker Business Library, which is distinguished by its many classrooms, tech hubs, and digital databases.

Ironically, many of the top business schools have lower-ranked libraries according to BusienssResearchGuide.com, including Darden (#30), Booth (#28), Wharton (#26), Harvard (#18), Columbia (#15), and Stanford (#12). Conversely, some schools’ libraries far exceed their overall rank, including the University of Miami (#4), the University of Washington (#5), the College of William & Mary (#6), the University of Cincinnati (#8), the University of Illinois (#9), Purdue University (#11), the University of Colorado (#16), and Babson College (#24).

Among states, California and Massachusetts tied for having the most business schools libraries in the top 30 (four), with Illinois, Indiana, and New York each placing three libraries on the list.

Here is a list of the top 10 libraries. To read profiles for each library, click on the BusinessResearchGuide link below.

1. MIT (Sloan) – Dewey Library of Management and Social Science

2) Cornell (Johnson) – Management Library

3) USC (Marshall) – Crocker Business Library

4) University of Miami – Judi Prokop Newman Information Resource Center

5) University of Washington (Foster) – Foster Business Library

6) William & Mary (Mason) – McLeod Business Library

7) Duke (Fuqua) – Ford Library

8) University of Cincinnati (Lindner) – The Internet Business and Economics Library

9) University of Illinois – University Library of Business and Economics

10) Northwestern (Kellogg) – Joseph Schaffner Library

Don’t Miss: The Most Beautiful Business Schools

Source: BusinessResearchGuide