One of the oldest and most comprehensive public universities in the United States, USC has been designated a research institution of "very high research activity," the only university in South Carolina to have this designation, granted to 62 public and 32 private research institutions. University libraries in Columbia house over 7,000,000 processed items including 2,639,171 volumes and approximately 4,075,413 units in microform. Some 17,405 current periodicals are received. Thomas Cooper Library. Included in the seating are more than 900 private locked facilities for faculty and graduate students involved in research. Special areas in the library include the Student Computer Labs, the Science Library, Special Collections, and the Map Library. Access to the collection is obtained through the USCAN/NOTIS Online Card Catalog with terminals located throughout the building. CD ROM stations are available for user searching of multiple databases. The Thomas Cooper Library offers access to literature from international sources through the on-line computer-assisted reference department. The computerized reference service provides bibliographic citations, statistics, and international news from recent literature on a wide range of subjects. This service is particularly strong in the natural and social sciences. Also included are government activities, publications, and grant sources. Data bases in nursing include Medline, Nursing and Allied Health, and Health Planning and Administration. Data bases related to nursing include Psychological Abstracts and Mental Health Abstracts. New data bases are added regularly, and information on them is available in the Reference Department.