Talk:University of Alabama/Archive 1

Archive 1

Student Life

This Student Life section sounds so hostile and negative. I'm trying to think of how to make it sound more upbeat while not deleting any of the current material (which isn't untrue). Any ideas? Ttownfeen 21:18, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)

• I suggest renaming the "Greek life" heading to "Fraternities and Sororities" to lessen possible confusion for readers not familiar with this use of the adjective "Greek". Also, I think the section on the role of Fraternities (in particular) on campus and, ultimately, state politics, while notable, could be demoted and merged into other sections. This would clean up the contents box, if nothing else. Dystopos 21:01, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

• • I changed the name of the Greek Life section. The whole SGA thing would require the addition of a section on SGA, which I'm not exactly up at the moment. I'm good of beefing up already-existent articles and subsections and merging material, but not great at creating new ones. =) I'd think the width of the content doesn't matter all that matter as it doesn't interfere with the infobox. Ttownfeen 04:19, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

You could always add more instead to balance it out. All of student life isn't greek.

• Honors Orgs
• MDB, intramural sports, and stuff like Model UN
• Mallet Assembly, WHP, Blount
• Marks Madness, YellCrew

Streyeder 22:35, 22 June 2005 (UTC)

To Do List

• I have added info to the initial section and hope no one deletes it. The info was added to describe the increased academic reputation of UA. Much too much attention is given to the Athletic side of UA, and I thought there was a need for greater balance. I tried not to use info already in the rankings and accolades section, which was out of date by the way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bamainatlanta (talk • contribs) 22:43, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

• Update the history section throughly and reference material.

• Update Athletics section with information with traditions, school color and orgins of them, Million Dollar Band, and other university quirks.

• Revamp section on academic organization of the university.

• Try and get something through done in the student life section.

Ttownfeen 18:37, Mar 29, 2005 (UTC)

Kappa Sigma was not founded here in 1857. The national fraternity of Kappa Sigma was not even founded until 1869 at VMI. Kappa Sigma was founded at the University in 1899. The list of fraternities first on campus were: Delta Kappa Epsilon (1847), Phi Gamma Delta (1855), Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1856), Sigma Nu (1873), Sigma Chi (1876), Phi Delta Theta (1877), Kappa Alpha and Alpha Tau Omega (both 1885).

Thanks.

-Thanks for the heads up. I'll recheck my sources. 16:01, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

For help picking just the right colors for the school colors, I happened to stumble across some guidelines for stuff like that on a UA website: webguide.ua.edu/standards.html#colors --Iamthealchemist 04:53, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

"UAT" Abbreviation

I have added the "UAT" abbreviation to the list of common aka's in the introduction. I recongnise that this may be somewhat contentious due to the traditional use of "UAT" as an epithet by Auburn fans. Nevertheless, it has been my experience over the past decade that "UAT" has somewhat come into common usage without the derogatory implication as a quick way of distinguishing Alabama from its increasingly prominent satellite campuses. While I accept the policy of the University and its supporters to oppose the use of that abbreviation in general, I tend to think that our goal is to reflect common and reasonable usage, not the policy positions of our subjects. A reader unfamiliar with the University or Alabama college politics would be better educated to recognise that a speaker using "UAT" refers to the University of Alabama than to think exists some other fictional (Alabama-Tuscumbia?) branch campus.

Perhaps a footnote appended to the "UAT" usage pointing out its non-official status would be appropriate? - Lissoy 17:56, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

Um...so what does it stand for? I'd say a footnote with an explanation would be good. Wikibofh 18:11, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

Sorry about that, UAT stands for "University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa", Tuscaloosa being the location of the campus. - Lissoy 18:32, August 10, 2005 (UTC)

Hello! I have removed the "UAT" abbreviation from the entry for the following reasons. 1. On the Internet, "UAT" typically refers to the University of Advancing Technology, a private school in Arizona. 2. In University-sanctioned publications, the name of the Tuscaloosa-based school is always The University of Alabama. I know this because I worked for the Office of Marketing Communications when I was an undergrad. 3. In colloquial spoken usage, "UA" and "Bama" are quite common--"UAT" is not. I lived in Alabama for 22 years (4 of them in Tuscaloosa) and never heard it spoken; people more often use "the University" to refer to UA if not "UA" or "Bama" and we don't list "the University" as a possible nickname. Thanks for your bold participation! Will Hester (talk) 22:25, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

I've heard UAT used, but mostly in a snarky tone by folks affiliated with UAB. It probably doesn't need to appear in the article. Dystopos 01:51, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

I've never heard 'UAT' used aside from being a deragatory term by AU fans. I believe it should be removed from the article as well. Streyeder

Along those same lines, the only time I've heard of UA refered to "The University" outside of Tuscaloosa, where the reference is obvious is by alums trying to be snarky in reference to UAB, Auburn, etc. It doesn't belong in the article anymore than 'UAT' does. Ttownfeen 02:27, August 11, 2005 (UTC)

This is news to me that AU people use UAT in a deragotry manner. Even though I go to UA, I'm from Auburn and have only heard UA with the extra T when it is necessary for clarification between UAB or UAH (especially when in list format). Since I have a number of friends that go to the latter schools, they've used it in chat, at least, to distinguish. I've never heard it spoken though. Matthew Stuckwisch 02:19, 17 September 2005 (CST)

Pre Civil War

Would it be appropriate to add a blurb in the "Campus" section about the campus being almost destroyed during the Civil War and mentioning that four buildings that pre-date the Civil War are still being used? MccullarsJ 19:24, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Yes. A full account is still waiting to be added in the "History" section. The more specific (and well-cited) the better. A blurb would certainly be appropriate in the "Campus" section, as well. Dystopos 19:31, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Traditions

I'm a bit confused as to why there is a separate article about University of Alabama traditions and that the section in this article (7.4) in the Athletic section says that the section is a stub. Is this because someone is trying to point out a difference between athletic and non-athletic traditions? I think the articles would be better combined into one, under The University of Alabama, putting Traditions (both athletic and non-athletic) as a complete section (perhaps with athletic and non-athletic as subsections). I'd like to hear what others think about this.

If consolidation of the articles is not appropriate here (because I also not that the athletics also has its own main article), perhaps it would just look better if someone were to remove the "this section is a stub" part from the traditions subsection and just have the link to the article about traditions.

I just added a stub about Warren St. John. Does anyone think an article should be written about his book? --Iamthealchemist 04:39, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

The traditions article was seperated a while back but I placed the subsection a while back a placeholder for a short summary of traditions. The main traditions article to long to be consolidated totally into the main UA article. You're more than welcome to experiment with a solution to this problem. Ttownfeen 23:10, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Recent athletic accomplishments

In an edit summary, Ttownfeen expressed that this article needs to remain "general and encyclopedic" and that such things as the W-L record of the most recent football season should be moved to the UA athletics article. In my opinion, "recency" does not conflict with "general" or "encyclopedic" in any sense except the paper-bound precedent of other encyclopediae. Basic information like the W-L record for the most recent season (or perhaps the aggregate of the last five or ten seasons) is pretty central to the idea of having an athletics department, and could reasonably be included here. --Dystopos 14:23, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I have to disagree. I suppose I should have explained myself in the talk page instead of in the edit summary blurb. The point of the encyclopedia is the give general information regarding the topic at hand. "Recency" is not what I thought conflicted with the "general and encyclopedic" lithmus test I imposed on myself. An encylcopedia is not an almanac. If we say what the win-loss record of the 2005-2006 season is, why not the 2004-2005? Why not every season? I'm not saying it doesn't have a place on Wikipedia, I just don't believe the base article should be bogged down with such minutia. But, again, that's just my opinion. --Ttownfeen 18:43, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm going to have to agree with Ttwonfeen. We don't need to bog the main article down, but maybe putting a note that such information is available on the athletics page would be appropriate. --Iamthealchemist 16:50, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't have a strong feeling one way or the other. I did think the information was added in good faith and should be given fair consideration. I would favor having some kind of quantitative idea of what UA athletics have accomplished in the main article. Perhaps this would include the overall win-loss record and the current AP ranking for a few sports, including football. I don't think that would "bog down" the article, but it might be too prone to obsolescence. --Dystopos 17:19, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

While on the topic of football, we must come to a firm position on the number of football championship that are to be attributed to the program. I know this is a contentious topic outside of wikipedia, so the most NPOV statement is needed there. I believe my version fits the bill, but what do the other editors think? --Ttownfeen 22:19, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Table/Infobox

Well, I think the new infobox has "a better appearance", but 24.250.229.75 disagrees, therefore we need a consensus. So, which do the other editor prefer? Keep in mind that while the custom template may look a bit nicer, the template definitely has a much cleaner code.

--Ttownfeen 04:57, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

It's been almost two weeks and nobody has responded otherwise, not even 24.250.229.75, so I'm reverting the revert to the custom table. --Ttownfeen 20:46, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

I haven't been paying attention; sorry. I personally think appearance is overrated. What's more important is accessibility. The problem with custom code on Wikipedia is that it may not transfer well to other media. It may not look right when printed and may not display correctly on mobile devices or alternative browsers. It's also unparseable by search engines and bots. An infobox with only semantic markup will be recognizable and understandable to any bot that may read the page, while only a custom bot will be able to understand a custom infobox. So, in short, I agree wholeheartedly with your reversion. —LonelyPilgrim 20:56, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

Yikes. If there's going to be a disagreement, let me just reiterate my support for Ttownfeen's infobox template and the cleaner code. I don't care if the custom code "looks better" (I personally don't think it does). Presentational markup (i.e. markup that designates presentation or appearance) has no place on Wikipedia. By using strictly semantic markup (i.e. markup that only designates meaning), we are guaranteeing that all our hard work here will be useful universally. As I said before, custom code may not "look better" in all settings; it may be totally unviewable when printed in certain formats or when viewed in certain browsers. The advantage in using templates is that if someone were transferring Wikipedia content to another medium (say, for the print volumes they are producing for underdeveloped countries), they wouldn't have to go through and edit our code here to make it look right; all they would have to do is edit the template code, and every page that uses the template could be fixed uniformly. Also, suppose there was a bot that wanted to abstract and index schools and universities on Wikipedia. If we used the infobox, it could easily read our semantic code and understand the meaning of each of the fields. On the other hand, with this ugly custom code, it wouldn't be able to make head or tail of it, and probably wouldn't recognize it as useful information at all. So, let's not have an edit war. Let's talk about this and come to a consensus as Ttownfeen proposed in the first place. —LonelyPilgrim 07:10, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

Many thanks for your support, but more importantly, thanks for taking the time to take a position and letting me know that I'm not the only one who cares. --Ttownfeen 20:58, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Integrating the Greek system

There is considerable confusion about the first African-American student in a Caucasian sorority. I believe it is Christina Houston, who received a bid from Gamma Phi Beta sorority in fall 2000--as can be verified by this AP story: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DXK/is_15_20/ai_109265561 . Three years later, Carla Ferguson also received a bid from Gamma Phi Beta. --Jeremy Butler 12:05, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Maybe Ferguson was the first to accept a bid? Is that how it works? I have no clue. --Ttownfeen 20:39, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

capitalization

To clear up confusion about whether 'the' and 'university' should be capitalization, I looked up The University of Alabama's style guide. This excerpt is taken from http://style.ua.edu/esm_u.html:

The official University style governing the treatment of the institution's name is as follows:

Always capitalize our proper name as follows: The University of Alabama. The list below includes all references in which the definite article (the) must be capitalized.

The University of Alabama

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

The University of Alabama in Huntsville

The University of Alabama System

The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama

When The University of Alabama is used as an adjective, use the with a lowercase t.

the University of Alabama campus

the University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences

In other words, "The" in the University's proper (and official) name is dropped when it's used as an adjective. If it wasn't, the result would be . . .

the The University of Alabama campus

However, adding 's after the name makes it a noun, so . . .

The University of Alabama's campus

The University of Alabama's College of Arts and Sciences

Capitalize University when it takes the place of our full name, but not when used in a general sense.

For more information about University programs and services, call us.

That is a University-sponsored event.

He attended a university in Montana.

That's what makes our university special.

This university opened in 1831.

But the Wikipedia Manual of Style states the following:

Institutions

• Proper names of institutions (for example, the University of Sydney, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, George Brown College) are proper nouns and require capitalization. Where a title starts with the, it typically starts with lowercase t when the title occurs in the middle of a sentence (“a degree from the University of Sydney”).
• Generic words for institutions (university, college, hospital, high school) require no capitalization:

Incorrect	(generic):	The University offers programs in arts and sciences.
Correct	(generic):	The university offers …
Correct	(title):	The University of Ottawa offers …

• The last part is true, but use of "University" is this article is not generic. The context is clear since University of Alabama has been spelled out. -Fnlayson (talk) 00:15, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Epic Fail?

The University is set to honor Mobile native James M. Fail by placing his name on the visiting teams' locker room at Bryant-Denny Stadium. See the news story here. Just thought I'd give editors a heads-up that the article might be in for some vandalism by the Fail Trolls,... Dr. Cash (talk) 19:23, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Whether the "flagship" status of a university can be presented as objective fact

There is currently an RfC on this question at Talk:University of Maine#Flagship RFC. ☺Coppertwig (talk) 12:45, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

I have no opinion either way. I will go with whatever the community decision is. --Ttownfeen (talk) 16:15, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

It is advertised by the UA System as the flagship institution, so I don't know how that would how else you could say otherwise. It is known as the flagship school through out the UA system so I don't really get what you are questioning. Not like someone wrote it on here as an opinion, it is what it is. The article says it is the flagship of the University System, not the state, so if the University System says themselves that UA is their flagship institution I don't know why that wouldn't be good enough for Wikipedia. Rtr10 (talk) 23:59, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps instead of flagship it should be called the capstone, since this is a common nickname used at UA. I never heard it referred to as the flagship while I was there, but there are plenty of references to it as the capstone.12.188.199.11 (talk) 15:20, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

George Denny

I thought this the best place to leave this omission from wikipedia entirely: George Huthchenson Denny (University of Alabama President 1912-1936) has no entry here. Nor do many presidents of U of A. There might even be a U of A Presidents list page. But as he is the far lesser known of the namesakes of their stadium, not to mention the chimes there, an entry with SOME info might be created by someone before a stub appears. I wish I could, but am not really a creator of pages since Wikipedia's first few years. I'm afraid I could only create a stub. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.220.5.191 (talk) 09:32, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Athletics section

I think it's getting a bit long. It's taking nearly up half the article. Much of the information could be moved to the athletics article. --Ttownfeen (talk) 05:45, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

True. I suggest moving any content here to Alabama Crimson Tide that is not already covered there. Leave the content above the Football section, maybe a bit more. Or somebody has an idea with less being removed.. -Fnlayson (talk) 14:09, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Endowment

This should be updated. on the bottom of the alumni page it lists 777.1 million as the endowment, not the 500 million figure from 2008. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.119.87.170 (talk) 05:50, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Not sure where the $700m figure comes from. I use the financial statements issues by the board of trustees as my source. -- Ttownfeen (talk) 23:37, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

April 27, 2011 EF-5 Tornado

A reference should be added to the article about the April 2011 tornado that killed 5 students and left the campus damaged and living areas destroyed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.205.117.5 (talk) 17:02, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion. When you believe an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the edit this page link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to). ElKevbo (talk) 03:29, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Agreed, however, you must first have it approved by the dictators who control this page, before you create a new section or else you're just wasting your time.--AlabamaAandM (talk) 02:05, 13 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh brother... No edit made or content added in good faith is ever unwelcome at Wikipedia. That doesn't mean somebody isn't going to come in and modify something you wrote, but one of the first things you have to realize about Wikipedia is no one person owns the articles here. --Ttownfeen (talk) 23:30, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

History from 1890s to 1950s

Apparently nothing important happened at the university in the roughly 60 years between the opening of the school to women to the integration controversy...lol. What are some events that happened in that time period that could be added to the article? Any ideas? --Ttownfeen (talk) 23:35, 18 May 2011 (UTC)

Consistently best?

It seems to me that the sentence that says "The university has been consistently ranked as one of best universities in the state of Alabama." has several problems, ranging from, wp:by whom, to wp:peacock. I think this can be rewritten to reflect then intended train of thought without violating these, but it is beyond me.El Heuro (talk) 03:28, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Probably. I wouldn't even include it in intro. --Ttownfeen (talk) 19:55, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Revisited

I removed this information from the lead but another editor is insisting that it should remain because "US News & World Report rankings are included in the lead of articles about both Georgia and Tennessee's flagships (among others) and thus it is relevant to include here as well." First, I dispute that that is a good reason for including the material in this article. Second, the source in the current version is eleven (!) years old and self-published which raises significant concerns about due weight; in other words, if the university's own website is the only place we can find this information then it's probably not important enough to include in an encyclopedia article much less the opening paragraphs of an encyclopedia article. ElKevbo (talk) 04:25, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

I was the user that added the information to the lead. US News & World Report is a well-known rankings source, I updated the reference to be more recent, and the university is ranked in the top 50 in the current 2015 rankings as well. If someone would prefer the reference to be the USN&WR rankings themselves rather than the school's press release, that's totally feasible. It seems odd to include the fact that a school has Romance languages in the lead but not provide any information about comparative academics (not that the Romance languages should be necessarily deleted). Onyxqk (talk) 04:25, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

Update rankings

I updated the school rankings to reflect current available information from sources cited. The two that changed were Forbes and Washington monthly. The Forbes cite forwards to this years information, so the site is the same, but access information and other items are different. The new site for the WaMo information is http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings_2012/national_university_rank_2nd_page.php I do not want to mess up the box and do not know enough yet to fix the sources, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!El Heuro (talk) 04:44, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

The citations are embedded into the code for the infobox. I would alert the editors who watch the template that the WaMo rankings have been updated. --Ttownfeen (talk) 19:45, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

Student Media

Are there any editors who can help me track down more information on Comment: The University of Alabama Review? I am fairly sure this was a student run literary magazine. It is also worth noting it because it published an interview with Eudora Welty in one of its issues. Reprinted in this collection. "An Interview with Eudora Welty" 16 October 1965 Comment: The University of Alabama Review. 4 Winter 1965. p 11-16.

It also published another historically noteworthy issue of the prize-winning stories, poems, and essays of the Southern Literary Festival 1966. Noted here under Box 2

I'm assuming Comment was through the English Department but I'm not sure of when it began and when it ended. Google and jstor haven't yielded much. LBWMaltese (talk) 17:21, 16 July 2020 (UTC)

Updating content related to the University of Alabama Libraries to provide a more up to date summary of resources, services, and facilities

All, I have worked for University Libraries since 2006, in cataloging and then in reference services. I am currently Director of Strategic Engagement for University Libraries and have been asked to update our part of the UA Wikipedia page. Much of the content about University Libraries is out of date and does not reflect our current resources and services. Specifically the entry is incorrect in terms of the # of resources we make available, our ARL ranking, and we have a lot of new offerings that are not included in the entry, like an Institutional Repository, Digital Humanities Center, 3D printing, and a host of Software and AV production tools that we loan students and faculty. While some of the facilities information has also changed, I have incorporated what is in the current article in what I propose below to be the updated text. I have also inclded links to all of the various services and resources mentioned in my update. This is my first time making such a request and so I apologize if I make mistakes in formatting etc. I tried using the request edit wizard and could not get past the first part for some reason, so I am posting here as advised by another user. Again, I apologize if I make mistakes, I only want to improve the entry to reflect current realities...

Libraries

With access to more than 4.1 million print and electronic resources, University Libraries, a system of five separate discipline-related libraries, provides both traditional print collections and cutting-edge technology. The University Libraries website, lib.ua.edu, provides all library users with access to integrated collections, services, and information resources. Currently, the University Libraries system provides access to 199,515 full text print and electronic journals. University Libraries provides access to millions of scholarly articles electronically and in print, and millions of print books and E-books, through purchase plans and licensing with various providers. Scholarly holdings in the 600 database products available to students and faculty are also discoverable through Google Scholar.

The University Libraries discovery interface, Scout, is accessible through the Libraries website and provides access to the full catalog of local holdings, as well as a wide variety of database content – including scholarly and trade journals, popular magazines, current and historic newspapers, microfilm, federal government documents, digital archives, and streaming audio and video. Links to books and electronic materials on reserve, Interlibrary Loan services, and other self-initiated services, such as renewing books and requesting materials from the Libraries Annex, are also available in Scout.

Several borrowing programs with national, regional and state libraries (including RapidILL, ALLIES, and Project Reshare) extend the total resources available to students and faculty through interlibrary loan. University Libraries also offers a Document Delivery service, where the libraries will scan and electronically deliver print materials to faculty and students by request, which is available through the interlibrary loan page.

In addition to research collections in digital and print formats, University Libraries provides academic software, laptop and desktop computing resources, and digital media production tools to aid in student creativity.

Students pursuing coursework from a distance, either online or at other sites, have access to librarians who serve as the primary point of contact for any given subject area. The Ask-a-Librarian service also provides students, faculty, staff, and community members relevant FAQ’s as well as a means of chatting or emailing with liaison librarians. University Libraries also provides online Research Guides that are available to students 24/7 that guide students through the research process in a specific class or subject area.

Through the creation of video tutorials, online and in person instruction sessions and orientations, virtual and in person reference services, and an online course developed by instructional design professionals that explores resources, services, and the steps in the research enterprise, University Libraries offers students several ways to stay in touch and learn about services and resources.

University Libraries maintains five state-of-the art facilities that provide space for collaborative and independent study, with group study spaces and presentation practice rooms available for reservation. Each library serves a unique purpose.

The Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, which sits on the Main Quad, is the oldest and largest of the university libraries. Gorgas Library holds the university's collections in the humanities and social sciences, as well as the university's depository of US government documents. The library opened in 1939 as a four-story Greek Revival structure on the site of the original university Rotunda and was named after the long-time university librarian and wife of eighth university president Josiah Gorgas. A seven-story addition was built behind the library in the 1970s.[68][69] In 2020, major core-support renovations to Gorgas Library were completed, including adding a new service elevator and replacing patron elevator cars, updating the water fountains and elevator lobbies. All restrooms underwent major renovations, and a nursing mother’s room was added to the first floor. The main event space, Room 205, was expanded to create two event spaces, the Yellowhammer and Camellia Rooms, which contain state of the art presentation technology to serve campus stakeholder’s event needs.

The Angelo Bruno Business Library, located in the Business Quad, is named after the co-founder of the Bruno's grocery chain who gave the university $4 million to create a library focusing on commerce and business studies.[70] Opened in 1994, the 64,000-square-foot (5,900 m2), three-story facility holds over 170,000 volumes. Bruno Library also houses the 9,500-square-foot (880 m2) Sloan Y. Bashinsky Sr. Computer Center.[71][72]

The Eric and Sarah Rodgers Library for Science and Engineering, located in the Science and Engineering Quad, is named after two popular, long-time professors of engineering and statistics, respectively. It opened in 1990, combining the Science Library collection in Lloyd Hall and the Engineering Library collection in the Mineral Industries Building (now known as HM Comer Hall). Rodgers Library was designed with help from IBM to incorporate the latest in informatics.[73] McLure Education Library was founded in 1954 in a remodeled student union annex (across the street from the old Student Union, now Reese Phifer Hall) and named in 1974 after John Rankin McLure, the longtime dean of the College of Education.[74] The William Stanley Hoole Special Collections Library, which holds the university's collection of rare and historical documents and books, is located in Mary Harmon Bryant Hall. The University Libraries Archival Facility holds the University’s legacy collection, archival materials, older books and journals, and other volumes which need special handling and protection.

Other libraries on campus are independent of the University Libraries. The 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m2) Bounds Law Library, located at the Law Center, holds more than 300,000 volumes.[75] Established in 1978, the Health Sciences Library, located at the University Medical Center, serves students at the College of Community Health Sciences. Its 20,000-volume collection includes clinical medicine, family practice, primary care, medical education, consumer health, and related health care topics. Located in Farah Hall (home of the Department of Geography) the Map Library and Place Names Research Center holds over 270,000 maps and 75,000 aerial photographs.[76] The William E. Winter Reading Room of the College of Communication and Information Sciences is located in Reese Phifer Hall and holds over 10,000 volumes.[77] The School of Social Work Reading Room is located in Little Hall and just around 200 volumes.[78]

University Libraries facilities offer extended hours during fall, spring and summer sessions, The Writing Center and the Center for Academic Success routinely use University Libraries facilities to offer tutoring services during each semester. Gorgas Library is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week during study and finals weeks at the end of each semester. Rodgers Library offers 24 hour, five day a week access for 12 weeks each semester.

University Libraries Special Collections Library also provides online access to large parts of the University’s rare and unique maps, manuscripts, documents, and archival collections through its digital collections. Students, faculty, and staff have access to browse and search the libraries’ special collections through an online portal powered by CONTENTdm.

University Libraries supports on-site color and black and white printing, photocopying, and scanning as well as 3D printing production support in all branch libraries. University Libraries also provides spaces for students and faculty to produce audio projects, such as voiceovers, podcasts and simple keyboard and acoustic instrumental recordings. In addition to the desktop computers available to students, laptops are available to be checked out for up to 72 hours. The libraries also check out a wide variety of audiovisual equipment. University Libraries supports student and faculty use of citation managers RefWorks and Endnote which allow for the collection, management and output of scholarly works cited and bibliographies for various purposes.

Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library houses the Sanford Media Center, located on the 2nd floor. The Sanford Media Center was created to provide University of Alabama students with a leading -edge facility for digital media production. With the Center's computers, audio-visual hardware, software, and instruction, users have the experience of becoming producers and authors of multimedia content. Media specialists staff the Center and are available for consultation and one-on-one instruction.

Other library services include The Alabama Digital Humanities Center which provides project management and digital development services to faculty and students who would like to undertake a digital humanities project. University Libraries unveiled the University of Alabama Institutional Repository in 2017 which provides faculty and students with an open access platform and stable URLs for their works. The IR houses electronic copies of theses and dissertations, as well as datasets and other University of Alabama work-product that aids the research enterprise of the University.

University Libraries maintains memberships in the Association of Research Libraries, the Center for Research Libraries, HathiTrust, the Coalition for Networked Information, centerNet, LYRASIS, the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries, the Digital Preservation Network, and the Alabama Digital Preservation Network. As a U.S. Government Documents Regional Depository, the University Libraries serves Alabama libraries and the public.

UA is one of the 124 members of the Association of Research Libraries, which yearly compiles internal rankings. In 2018, the University of Alabama Libraries ranked 68th among 116 academic research libraries in North America, which was at that time the highest ranking achieved in University Libraries’ history. Pearc007 (talk) 15:51, 23 February 2021 (UTC)Pearc007 (Michael Pearce)