Making sense of the world of libraries...

Library of Congress

     I.  Services

Some of the most basic "public" services (i.e., services that allow the community to use the library) which you will find in any library are:

Circulation and Reserves Services: among academic libraries Circulation and Reserves services are usually co-located at the same service desk area allowing patrons to check out circulating library materials and other course related materials that instructors place "on reserve" for students. 

Reserve materials can be print readings (books, articles, etc.) or audiovisual materials available for limited time periods (usually 3 hours) or electronic files accessible 24/7 (see further discussion below).  See discussion below for further explanation of the purpose of reserves collections.

Interlibrary Loan Services:  through these services patrons are able to borrow books or get copies of articles not owned by our library from another library. Interlibrary loan is FREE and, as you may already have realized, gives you access to millions of items beyond our local collections!   What a wonderful service, eh?

Reference Services: you need help with your research?  You need to find the answer to a question you have? Library staff at the reference desk help you with your research project or questions you may have. You are not in the library? You may get direct help 24/7regardless of where you are through our "Live Library Help" ( see chat window on the left panel of the library page) or through our Ask a Librarian! link under "Library Assistance".  Give it a try!

        II. Library Collections

Library collections consist of different types of materials, most - if not all -  of them familiar to you: Books, Periodicals, Newspapers, Government documents, Reserve collections, Media collections, and other Internet resources

BOOKS   

  Are there different book collections?

In general, library books are either:

a) part of a library's "circulating" collection, i.e., books that you can check out and take home,

or

b) part of a library's "Reference" collection.  Reference books are usually located on the main floor of a library, next to the library's reference/information desk. These books can not be checked out.  As we'll see later on, Reference books are usually those books that provide quick answers or background information such as encyclopedias, almanacs, directories, dictionaries, etc.

  What are those numbers on the spine of the books?

Each book in the library is given a unique call number based on its subject and author, so that it can be easily distinguished and identified from all other books. You will find this call number on the spine of a book or in information about a book when you use an online catalog. 

 

There are two different call number/classification systems, the Dewey Decimal and the Library of Congress classification systems, which are most commonly used among libraries.  Most academic libraries use the Library of Congress (LC) classification system.  According to this system, call numbers begin with one or two letters representing a broad subject area, followed by numbers which stand for subdivisions within the subject area.

Want to find out what the subject matter of a book is?  Check the Library of Congress (LC) classification system.

Here's an example:

"Q" stands for Science
"QK" stands for Botany
"QK901" stands for Plant ecology

  And how do you read these call numbers?

Here's how you may read and use these LC call numbers to locate a book on the library shelves:

• Read the numbers row by row.
• The first row - letters - is read alphabetically.

         For example,      L    comes before LB
                                  61                       61

• The second row is read as a whole number, in numerical order (i.e. from the lowest to highest numbers)    

          For example,   LB comes before  LB
                                61                       102

• The third row has a decimal point in front of it and you read it as a decimal number. In other words, read any number after that decimal digit by digit, not as a whole number!

        For example,     LB comes before  LB
                                61                       61
                                .M26                   .M8

• Unless it is a date (if so, that's the date of the book's publication), the fourth row is also read digit by digit as a decimal number.

Want to practice?  Place the following call numbers in order:

DN 818 .B8 R7

DN 818 .B6 R37

DN 818 .B8 R52

DN 818 .B8 R37

DN 818 .B72 R35

Click here for the answer.

PERIODICALS

The term periodicals refers to both "magazines," which are popular publications, and "journals," which are professional, often research, publications.  Every library has a collection of magazines and journals, usually separate from the rest of the collection. 

Most libraries, including our Campus Library, have subscriptions to electronic periodical databases that allow patrons to search for periodical articles on specific topics. These databases have expanded and even replaced local print periodical collections adding thousands of periodical titles to what used to be found physically only within the library. Because of the popularity and ease of use of these databases students frequently rely on these electronic periodical collections for most of their college work.

In addition, within our library, older periodicals are still bound in print volumes and placed on shelves in alphabetical order by the name of the publication or may be on "microfiche," in which case they can be read on special microfiche readers. 

Finally, libraries often keep the most recent issues of periodicals in a separate section, on display, for general browsing.

NEWSPAPERS

Because of their sheer volume, most libraries keep only the most current newspaper issues on paper (the latest issues are frequently on display for easy use and browsing). 

Again, similar to periodical databases, library newspaper collections have expanded to include electronic formats, such as COCC's subscriptions to hundreds of newspaper titles through the Lexis-Nexis or New York Times databases.  Both of these databases are examples of  main tools students currently use to access news from all over the world!  

Although not as frequently used, other older newspaper issues may also be found in microfilm form and are read on special microfilm readers.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

Many college libraries, like the Campus Library, are depositories for government publications. Usually you will find government  publications in a separate location in a library, both in print and in microfiche form.  These materials are assigned different call numbers, the SuDoc (Superintendent of Documents) call numbers, which may look like this:  Y 10.2:W29/2. 

Besides the paper collection of government publications, a large number of government sources are now freely available over the web.  As a matter of fact, in the last decade the government has gone through a major shift in making information available electronically rather than on paper through the use of the Internet. 

RESERVE COLLECTIONS

College instructors often place supplemental course materials such as articles, books, videos, or tapes "on reserve."  Students may then be asked to use these materials in order to complete their assignment.  Reserve items are usually kept at the Circulation desk and can be checked out by the students only for a limited time, frequently only for 2 hours. 

Also, our Campus Library makes some of these items available to students 24/7 through "Electronic Reserves". To access these electronic files, on the library homepage, click on "e-Reserves" (next to the icon of our library) and then select by instructor name.  To retrieve the files you will be asked to authenticate by last name and ID number.

MEDIA COLLECTIONS

Media collections include nonprint material such as films, videos, or audiotapes. The Campus Library collection is located on the first floor of the library, next to the Reference /Information desk.  Patrons may check out videos and DVDs for a period of 3 days (plus one 3-day renewal).

OTHER: INTERNET RESOURCES

As mentioned above, libraries now have additional electronic resources to supplement their collections.  Sources such as the Internet have expanded library collections tremendously, taking them outside the library walls!  This course will expose you to a number of these subscription based or free resources that have really enriched our grasp on the information world!