CAMPUS RESEARCH

Academic Facilities

Resources to Support Research and Teaching

The Library System

The Library System of the Río Piedras Campus incorporates the resources and services of various campus libraries in order to serve the research and teaching needs of the university community. It also extends its services to the Puerto Rican community at large, thus fulfilling, in part, its social and cultural responsibility to the island. The system is comprised of eighteen specialized and general libraries, with holdings totaling more than 4,000,000items, access to which may be achieved through the university’s online catalog. Of special interest are the Caribbean and Latin American Studies Library and the Puerto Rican Collection, both located in the José M. Lázaro General Library.

In addition to the traditional services–reference, circulation, reserves, photocopying, local interlibrary loan, and the compilation of bibliographies and acquisition lists–the Library System also carries out on-line interlibrary loans with libraries all over the world. Other services include Dial Order, DIALOG, microfilming, reproduction of photographs, library instruction and orientation, lectures, and exhibits. The Library System offers special facilities for the blind and physically handicapped. Integral parts of the Library System are the graduate and special collections in the Business Administration, Natural Sciences, Planning, Public Administration, Social Work, and Library Science programs. Independent of the campus Library System are the libraries of the School of Law and the School of Architecture, which are also located on the university campus.

Information System

The Information Systems Office serves the educational, research and administrative efforts of the institution. As a member of Internet2 and the Internet, the University enjoys instant communication with institutions all over the world for the purposes of correspondence and information access. Improvements to existing telecommunications infrastructure include the installation of structured cabling in campus buildings and fiber optics as a means of interconnecting them. Currently, campus buildings are configured to ATM (155Mbits / s) and Gigabit Ethernet interfacing equipment, providing greater capacity to transfer video, voice and data. The campus is capable of offering video conferencing over ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), or via the Internet in H.323 format.

The academic community has access to computer facilities all over campus. The types of equipment and laboratory hours vary, so you should request information directly from each service location.

The University Museum

The Museum of Art, History, and Anthropology was created in 1951 by legislative act to “complete and preserve our art, history, and anthropological heritage,” as a means to educate and enrich our culture. The current building, designed by the architect Henry Klumb, was inaugurated in 1959. Since its establishment, the museum has actively contributed to the growth of Puerto Rican cultural life by holding art, historical, and anthropological exhibits and sponsoring lectures, seminars, publications, and workshops–to the benefit of both the academic and the general communities.

Learning Resources and Research Facilities

School of Architecture

Acoustics Laboratory
Director: Dr. Jorge Rocafort
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 2114 or 3431

Biotropical Technology Laboratory (LAAB)
Director: Dr. Pedro Muñiz
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 3745

College of Education

Orientation and Counseling Laboratory (LABORCON)
Director: Dr. Loida Martínez
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 2609

External Resources at the Río Piedras Campus

College of Natural Sciences

Bio-testing Facility
Director: Fernando González
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 7374

El Verde Field Station
Telephone: (787) 764-0000 ext. 6730

El Yunque Field House
Director: Dr. James Ackerman, Iván Olivo
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 2569

Materials Characterization Center of the College of Natural Sciences
Director: Dr. Edgar Resto
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 7807 or (787)282-7593 est. 7806

Mass Spectrometry Facility
Director: Dr. Osvaldo Rosario
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 7577

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility
Director: Dr. José Prieto
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 4808

Surface Analysis Center
Director: Dr. Carlos Cabrera
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, exts. 4807, 2395

X-Ray Diffraction Research Lab
Director: Dr. Eric Schreiter
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 2769

X-ray Crystallography Facility
Director: Dr. Raphael Raptis
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 7577

Dean of Graduate Studies and Research

Animal House
Director: Dr. Eduardo Rosa Molinar
Telephone: (787) 764-0000, ext. 2027