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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1990)
LEARNIIM<3 THE FIQF>ES LIBRARY BASICS To get the most value for your time spent in the Library, master the basics of library use. The basic “finding tools” are NOTIS, the online cata log; an array of computer databases; and the peri odical indexes. NOTIS IS ... the online library computer system at the Sterling C. Evans Library ... a database containing records of all books and journal titles in the Library ... searchable by author, title, subject and keyword ... available for searching on terminals throughout the Library and by remote access from your own computer ... and much more! NOTIS can be used to find bibliographic information, locations and call numbers for materi als held by the Sterling C. Evans Library. NOTIS will even tell you if a book is checked out, and when it is due. Through NOTIS, the Library also offers access to Business Periodicals Index, Applied Science and Technology Index, and Biological and Agri cultural Index with the Wilson Database, or WILS, feature. Plans call for more databases to be added to this function in the near future. For help using either the Library Catalog or Wilson Database portions of NOTIS, detailed searching guides, or remote access instructions, contact the Reference Desk. FINDING BOOKS After finding a NOTIS record, copy the location and call number and consult a Location Guide at the Reference Desk to see which floor houses that call number. FINDING JOURNALS To identify which magazines, journals, news papers, yearbooks, etc. the Library receives and where they are located, consult the Library Catalog part of NOTIS, searching for the journal by title. The NOTIS record will give you the call number and location of the journal. Older, bound volumes of most journals are shelved in the stacks. Consult a Location Guide to find the correct floor. Recent, unbound issues for most journals are in the Current Periodicals Depart ment (CPD) on the first floor, and are arranged by call numbers. USING INDEXES When you need a magazine or journal on a particular subject, consult the indexes in the Ref erence Division on the first floor. These indexes are arranged alphabetically by title on numbered tables. The Evans Library has over 400 indexes available in specific subject fields. Ask to see the INDEX TO INDEXES available at the Reference Desk to determine which index would be most helpful for your topic. CHECKING OUT BOOKS To check out a book, bring it to the Circulation Desk on the first floor, and present a current, valid University I.D. Lost I.D.s and changes of address should be reported to personnel at the Circulation Desk. With a few exceptions, all stack materials circulate. The normal loan period is two weeks for students, one month for graduate students and four months for faculty. Books may be renewed if they have not been requested by another Library user. Bound issues of magazines and journals may be checked out by faculty and graduate stu dents from the Circulation Desk on the first floor for a four hour period. The Evans Library does not charge fines for overdue materials except for items that have been recalled for another user. A lost book must be paid for or replaced with an identical copy. A non- refundable processing fee is charged when a book is lost. A complete copy of the Circulation Policy is available at the Circulation Desk. If you cannot locate material that is supposed to be on the shelf, check NOTIS to see if the book is charged out. If necessary, fill out a Locate Card at the Circulation Desk and the Library will notify you when the material has been located. If another user has the book you need, fill out a Recall Card and you will be notified when the book is returned. ASKING FOR HELP You have a research project and you are not sure where to start, or perhaps you are in search of an obscure publication. Whatever the need, never hesitate to ask for help. Typically, our Reference staff answers more than 500 questions daily. With their special training, librarians can help you plan your research strategy, refer you to the best information source, or locate hard-to-find materials. You have the benefit of immediate professional help while learning skills you can put to use in future assignments. The main, centralized Reference Desk is located on the first floor. Another help desk on the second floor provides reference service for government documents and microforms. Assis tance is also available in the Map Room, and on the sixth floor in the Learning Resources Depart ment. Intercom telephones located on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth floors allow you to communi cate with the Reference staff when you need help on those floors. All reference desks have instructional hand outs available to make your search a little bit eas ier. BEYOND BQQKLS Computerized Information Searches If you need very current data, or if you need articles on a topic which combines two or three main ideas, a computerized literature search may streamline your research. Students themselves can search hundreds of databases to produce lists of articles, books, proceedings, reports, and government documents on the specific topic requested. The Evans Library offers a variety of search systems to meet the needs of faculty and students. *AIRS The Automated Information Retrieval Service, a fee service, provides customized searches of the literature in a broad range of topics. The computer system used by the AIRS staff allows searches of recent information in over 800 indexes, abstracting services, and directories. AIRS is the most sophisticated and complete of the services and might be appropriate for a major project. Costs vary, but a typical AIRS search can cost between $50 and $75. AIRS is located on the first floor of the Library in the Reference Office, Room 110, and appointments can be made at that location. ‘AfterDark The AfterDark service is a do-it-yourself computerized search system which searches and retrieves bibliographic information according to your instructions. Literally millions of citations may be searched for information pertaining to your particular interest. Students perform their own searching after reading an instruction man ual. There may be a charge for this, depending on the database searched, and an appointment is necessary. Check with the Reference staff for more information. *The James and Virginia Wiley Laser Disk Service The Evans Library’s CD-ROM service uses laser disk technology to provide access to a variety of databases covering such fields as agriculture, psychology, business, current events, education, and more. Use of the CD-ROM data bases is on a first-come, first-served basis. Results of searches may be printed out or down loaded onto floppy disk. There is no fee for this service. *Wilsearch - Wilsearch allows the user to search indexes such as the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Litera ture, Art Index, General Science Index, and others. There is a minimal charge of $.10 per citation for this service. Make an appointment to use the service in the Reference offices on the first floor. ‘Patent Searches Because the Evans Library is a patent deposi tory, the Library has access to CASSIS, a data base of patent information on CD-ROM, provided by the Patent and Trademark Office. CASSIS contains all U.S. patent numbers, which will lead the user to full text patents on microfilm car tridges. CASSIS can provide a current list of pat ents by class/subclass. Contact the Government Documents Division on the second floor for more information. ESSENTIAL SOOBCiES Government Documents The Evans Library is designated as a federal depository library, which means the Library receives the majority of books, pamphlets, reports, and other materials published by the United States Government. This enormous body of material is a valuable source of information for research. Texas State Documents are also housed in this division. The Technical Reports Collection, another part of the Documents Divi sion, includes scientific and technical reports with emphasis in the areas of oceanography, water resources and transportation. Although records of federal documents published since 1976 are listed on NOTIS, older materials and state docu ments are not. Consult the staff at the Govern ment Documents/Microtext reference desk on the second floor for assistance. Many government documents circulate and may be checked out at the Government Docu ments/Microtext Circulation desk. Microtext Department The Microtext Department, located on the second floor, holds the majority of the Evans Library’s three million microforms, which include microfilm, microfiche and microprint. Approxi mately one fourth of all periodicals can be found in this department, along with newspapers (excepting current editions) and newspaper in dexes. Among the over 400 collections held in the department are college catalogs, company fi nancial reports, ERIC (an education index), engineering catalogs, and industrial standards. The Guide to Microform Collections in the Sterling C. Evans Library provides access to over 400 collections, ranging from historical to economic to census to literary materials. A growing number of the microform holdings appear in the NOTIS cata log, by individual title or by every title in the collection. For assistance in identifying or locat ing microforms, consult the staff at the Govern ment Documents/Microform Reference desk. contains recorded drama, including ttie complete plays of Shakespeare, and materials in the fields of history, political science, anthropology, biology, education and others. The LRD also has a limited collection of recorded music. LRD materials are identifiable in the card catalog and the public access NOTIS terminals by the location stamps “Multi-Media” or “Learning Resource” above or preceding the call number. Inquire in the LRD about microcomputer software. Circulation checkout periods vary. Videocas settes and 16mm films circulate for three days. VMS tapes may be checked out of the LRD by TAMU teaching faculty only. Slides, filmstrips and audiocassettes circulate for two weeks. Micro computer software cannot leave the LRD area. Items cannot be renewed by phone. Audiocas sette players can be checked out for two weeks. All other playback equipment is used in the LRD Copies can be made from microfilm and microfiche when the Department is open. Patrons can make their own copies for $. 15/copy or staff will complete copy orders at$.20/copy. Micro fiche can be duplicated for $.25. Many of the items in the Microtext Department can be checked out, as can portable film and fiche readers. The machines are loaned for two weeks to undergraduates, graduates, staff and faculty, and a $1.00 a day fine is charged for late returns. For more information, please visit the department, or call the Government Documents/Microtext Circulation Desk at 845-1952. Map Department Atlases, gazetteers, and aerial photographs are found in the Map Department along with street and road maps, nautical charts, aeronauti cal charts and sheet maps. Topographic and geologic maps make up a large portion of the approximately 130,000 maps housed here. Nearly all maps circulate. The Map Department is located on the second floor of the Library, Room 205. RESERVES If your instructor tells you material has been placed on reserve, you will need to go to the Reserve Department on the first floor in Room 118. Reserve materials are books, articles and other required readings for a class. A limited number of quiz files are also kept on reserve. A call number is necessary to request reserve material at the service desk in the Reserve Room. To obtain the call number, use the NOTIS termi nal and enter title, author, or key words. The majority of reserve material may be used only in the building. Borrowing times for materials are determined by the faculty member placing the material on reserve. A stringent fine policy is designed to encourage borrowers to return materials promptly. SPECIAL TREASURES ARCHIVES Current Periodicals (CPD) Approximately 8,000 journal and periodical titles and 200 newspaper titles are located in the Current Periodicals Department on the first floor of the Library in Room 119. Only the most recent, unbound issues of journals and magazines are located in CPD. Generally, CPD materials do not circulate. COMPUTERS, MOVIES AND MORE If you need to use a computer, vidoecassette player, movie projector or other audio-visual equipment, visit the Learning Resources Depart ment (LRD) on the sixth floor of the Library. Make an appointment and present your student ID and use any of the two hundred plus micro computers available including Apples, Macin toshes, IBM PC’s and compatibles. The LRD provides assistance on microcomputers as staff time permits. Self-teaching materials are avail able in various formats. Each semester the LRD also offers fee-based workshops in word process ing and spreadsheets. In addition to equipment, the LRD contains audio-visual materials that support the teaching Archives is a rich source of information on the history and growth of Texas A&M University and of Texas. Everything from old Aggie football films to early student uniforms are among its unique keepsakes. The papers of Texas public officials such as Congressman Olin E. Teague and former Speaker of the House Bill Clayton are included in its numerous collections. Access to the Archives is through the West entrance of the original building, called the Cushing Building. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DIVISION Special Collections houses unique collections of national importance to students and scholars in the humanities. Among its treasures are the Science Fiction Research Collection, the Jeff Dykes Range Livestock Collection and the Loran L. Laughlin Collection of Rare Antiquarian Books. Such collections provide scholars with rare and original material for research. Special Collections also offers art treasures including the Mavis and Mary Kelsey Collection of Americana with prints by Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington. Although all items are kept in closed stacks; researchers may use them in the reading room in the Special Collections Division on the second floor of the Library.