Rome Campus Library

Rome Campus - Out of the five St. John's University campuses, the Oakdale campus seems to be the most beautiful, but, perhaps, the Rome campus is the most prestigious. Actually, one can make an argument that it is both beautiful and prestigious in its own way. It combines the beauty, history and splendor of the Eternal City and the prestige and importance of being Europe's foothold of a major American University.

The Rome campus is located on Via Santa Maria Mediatricie, a quiet side street, lined with cypress trees, which almost look to be from a van Gogh painting. The facility, located on the top of the hill, is a part of the Pontificio Oratorio di San Pietro, which, in addition to classroom space, provides access to the swimming pool, tennis courts, soccer stadium, walking paths, etc. all on the same campus and all almost in the shadow of the St. Peter's Basilica, which can be seen from the campus.

There is a small but diverse student population from many countries, a total of 100 graduates and 20 undergraduates. Students attend graduate classes in the degree programs: MA in International Relations and MBA degrees in International Business, International Finance and Marketing Management. Each semester, faculty from the St. John's campuses in Queens and Staten Island spend several weeks in Rome teaching classes within the various degree programs.

St. John's University Rome Library houses a small collection of monographs and periodicals. Plans are underway to update and expand this collection and possibly add media materials, which should enrich instruction and make studies more attractive. Information Technology is planning to upgrade and supplement computer equipment to further enhance instruction and communication with students.

Adjacent to the Library is a computer lab with workstations providing access to our heavily used online resources. Popular databases, used constantly, include ProQuest ABI/INFORM, EBSCOhost, JSTOR, CIAO, Lexis-Nexis, and Hoovers.com. Students have discovered the wealth of information found in full-text databases. Our online collection, available to our students, is the richest in Rome.

During a very busy seven days in February 2003, I met with faculty, administrators and students. I had classes with the students and met with them individually and in small groups. I was greatly impressed by the quality of students and faculty, and the hospitality shown me. My final conclusion is that St. John's University has great programs in Rome and the Library plays an essential role in the educational process on that campus.

Prof. Andrew Sankowski
Director, Collections and Information Management