The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives' Library is one of the largest cooperative collections in the world, with over 7,000 books, extensive subject files, a large archive collection and many journals.

Access to the Library through the Internet

With support from the MSI Insurance Foundation, we are currently working on a project to list the collection on the University of Wisconsin electronic library catalog.

To find these materials, first go to the "MadCat" page. At the Madcat Page, You can search by subject, author, title, etc. The method for locating materials in the Cooperative Library varies according to the interface.

Please note that the University of Wisconsin Library System recognizes the Torgerson Cooperative Library as the "Center for Cooperatives Library" and when limiting searches or making sense of search results it is necessary to realize this. Below are instructions for limiting searches to the Center for Cooperatives Library.

When first accessing MadCat via the link above, a screen similar to the image below is found. If you are not a member of the University of Wisconsin community please follow the link for visitors found at http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/index.html and as shown in the screen shot below.

When first getting accustomed to the search interface it is perhaps easier to begin with a Basic Search as shown in the image below. This will lead to tools to restrict the search to the Center for Cooperatives Library.

On the Basic Search tab, go click on the "Set More Limits" link. This will allow you to restrict the library to the Center for Cooperatives Library.

On the page to set more limits, go to the Locations scroll box, scroll down to the Center for Cooperatives Library, and select it as in the image. Once the Center for Cooperatives Library has been selected, go to the bottom of the page and click on the button "Set More Limits". This will return you to the Basic Search tab from where you can conduct searches on materials found in the Center for Cooperatives Library. Remark that materials may be found in other UW Libraries in addition to the Center for Cooperatives Library.

On the Basic Search tab enter a search term, for example, "Housing" and then click on the "Search" button as in the image below.

A set of results only including materials found at least in the Center for Cooperatives Library will be returned as in the image below. To view details of the items simply click on the title.

Visiting the Cooperative Library

The library is located in Henry Taylor Hall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Please contact Linda Davis at (608) 262-9488 or davis@aae.wisc.edu for information on hours and visits.