Library Collections

Within the Marine Resources Library

View the latest additions to the library at our virtual new bookshelf.
Virtual Bookcase of recently-added books at MRL

Materials located in the MRL are predominantly devoted to the subject of Marine Biology, although the collection also covers broader scientific subjects, particularly within the fields of biology and chemistry and interdisciplinary fields such as biochemistry, bio-medicine, etc. The collection’s strengths include:

  • marine biology
  • marine ecology
  • fisheries science
  • ichthyology
  • invertebrate zoology
  • toxicology
  • marine forensics
  • biotechnology
  • ecotoxicology
  • phycology
  • biochemistry
  • genetics
  • genomics

The majority of materials in the library are monographs (print books and reports) which can be checked out by authorized library users. A small reference collection is available for use within the library. The library also maintains an archive of print serials (journals) which is useful for accessing early content not always available online. Almost all current journal subscriptions are now online. Other research resources housed in the library include reprints, contributions and reports produced by researchers at the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Marine Resources Division and the College of Charleston Grice Marine Laboratory, and a small quantity of microfiche.

College of Charleston

As a branch of the College of Charleston Libraries, the Marine Resources Library catalog also includes materials held at the Addlestone Library in downtown Charleston and its other branch libraries. Much of this material can also be checked out at MRL, just as MRL resources are shared with these partner libraries.

Across the Country and Beyond

Through Interlibrary Loan, founded on cooperation between libraries, the print collections of other libraries are often available to users of the MRL. If you find a citation for a book or article to which we don’t have access at MRL or the College of Charleston Libraries, we will attempt to borrow it for you from another library. See our Interlibrary Loan service for details.

Online Collections

A significant proportion of the scholarly resources to which MRL users have access are now available online. A broad spectrum of marine science related scholarly journals can be accessed for research, as well as a number of e-book collections. These are all listed in the library catalog. Individual e-journals can be located using the e-journal finder and articles on specific topics are best located using the collection of databases licensed for your use.