Collections Update

The university's subscription to the Access World News database will be discontinued, effective January 1, 2026.

This decision is part of an ongoing process to strategically evaluate and optimize our resource subscriptions to ensure maximum impact and fiscal responsibility.

We want to assure the community that this cancellation is anticipated to have a minor impact on our overall academic and research environment. This resource was chosen for discontinuation primarily because its usage metrics indicated low engagement, and, critically, it was not identified as a core component tied to faculty or institutional Research Impact Statements (RIS).

Get ready for an exciting and modern upgrade to your choral experience starting this Fall! Beginning September 1, 2025, Westminster Choir College will be integrating nkoda, a cutting-edge digital music library platform, into our choral programs. This shift is designed to enhance learning, streamline rehearsals, and increase access to musical scores.

Why nkoda? A Score of Benefits for You!

nkoda offers instant access to an incredible collection of over 140 music publishers and 130,000 editions, including a vast array of choral scores. This means:

· Instant Access to Repertoire: Say goodbye to delays! You'll have immediate access to all your choral scores, allowing for more flexibility and responsiveness in repertoire choices.

·  The nkoda database also includes solo repertoire and can also be used for applied music lessons.

· Enhanced Annotation: Mark up your scores digitally with ease! Highlight, annotate, and take notes directly on your tablet, then edit or share them seamlessly.

· Integrated Learning Tools: Practice smarter with built-in tools like metronomes and multi-view options, and even link to audio recordings for deeper score study.

· Eco-Friendly: This transition significantly reduces paper consumption, contributing to Rider University's sustainability efforts.

· Portability & Organization: All your scores, consolidated on one device. No more lugging around heavy binders!

The subscription to The Chronicle of Higher Education has been cancelled.. This decision was made after careful consideration of resource allocation and usage.  We understand that The Chronicle of Higher Education is a valuable resource for many of you. Please be aware of the following options for accessing its content going forward:

1.     Personal Subscriptions: Individuals who wish to maintain continuous access to The Chronicle of Higher Education may purchase a personal subscription directly. Please note that these personal subscriptions cannot be paid for using departmental or university funds. You can find information on personal subscriptions here.

2.     Interlibrary Loan (ILL): You can continue to request specific articles from The Chronicle of Higher Education through our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service (https://guides.rider.edu/ill). University Library’s ILL department is highly efficient and typically fulfills article requests within three hours or less, ensuring timely access to the content you need for your research and teaching.

Good day, 

Due to low usage and changes in information needs, the University Library have opted to discontinue access to Dynamed and ProQuest SciTech databases.

Please contact reference@rider.edu if you have any questions.

The U.S. Department of Education has renewed a contract to continue ERIC’s operations under a more restricted scope. No existing content has been removed from ERIC, but there will be service changes, such as the closure of the ERIC Help Desk and a consolidation of social media communications. University Library will continue to monitor developments and will share any major updates that affect ERIC access or content.

Education Resources Information Center, or ERIC, is a bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information, including peer-reviewed journals and reports from education organizations. This database, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, is used by researchers in education and other social sciences fields.

According to the ERIC Help Desk, resources covered by this database will be reduced effective April 24, 2025. When asked about content becoming unavailable, the ERIC Help Desk’s response was as follows:

Project MUSE is a provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community.  MUSE is a trusted source of complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals from many of the world’s leading university presses and scholarly societies, with over 120 publishers currently participating.  However, in the past two fiscal years, only 20-25 unique titles had been requested.  University Library believes it may support the curriculum by canceling this database that has significant overlap (e.g. same titles) with other databases.

The following journals were cancelled due to high cost per use. Overall, University Library is projected to save over $16,000 through these cuts.

Classical Scores, Historical Abstracts, and MRI Simmons have been cancelled. The Collection Development Committee is considering alternatives that would better meet the curricular needs of Rider University.

Swank Digital Campus provides digital access to course-assigned feature films and documentaries. Because this service is maintained to support classroom instruction, the films available through Swank will vary from semester to semester.  Films may be found using the Rider University Catalog Search.