The book collections in biology and agriculture are among the country's most extensive for these fields and are particularly strong in bee biology, and viticulture and enology. The collections include some three thousand current journals on display and number, including volumes in compact storage, of some half million for these subject areas alone. Five departmental bibliographers and several part time librarians share responsibility for providing guidance to users of the collection, either in locating materials or developing strategies for users to find information. The Department is actively engaged in classroom lectures, tours, and seminars on the use biological and agricultural information.
Bibliographers work with the faculty in developing the collection.
For information on how to recommend a book for the collection, click here. Several other librarians in the Department provide expert assistance for conducting fee-based mediated online searching and provide guidance to others in the use of other electronic sources which are available in the Library. Finally, under contract with the National Agricultural Library, the Department acts as head of the Western Region for the USDA Regional Document Delivery System, handling not only requests sent to U.C. Davis directly, but also those unfilled requests forwarded by other academic institutions in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. The Department has also developed programs with other U.C. campuses to expedite delivery of library materials between libraries for students and faculty.