Finding what you need in the Library

Introduction to Information Literacy

• What is a Library?• How books are placed on the shelves?• What is a library classification scheme?• What are shelf marks?• What sources of information can I find in libraries?• What is the library catalogue (OPAC)?• Some important final points

What is a Library ? (I)• A place in which literary and artistic

materials, such as books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, prints, records, and tapes, are kept for reading, reference, or lending.

• A collection of such materials, especially when systematically arranged.

• A room in a private home for such a collection.

• An institution or foundation maintaining such a collection.

What is a Library ? (II)• A commercial establishment that lends books

for a fee.• A series or set of books issued by a publisher. • A collection of recorded data or tapes arranged

for ease of use. • A set of things similar to a library in

appearance, function, or organization: a library of computer programs.

Definition of an Academic Library

An academic library's purpose is to support the teaching and research of a college or university. Most academic libraries are much larger than village public libraries. Generally, non-academic material is not found in an academic library, but at MCAST libraries we do hold some non-academic material, such as fiction books, and films in DVDs and Video format.

MCAST Libraries provide :

• more than 25,000 books, • over 250 journals (30 in electronic format) • over 300 CD-ROMs • more than 200 Videos & DVD films, • a small collection of classical music CDs. • and we also offer several services, facilities and

activities

Finding what you needThis is the 4th academic year that MCAST Library

has been operating and we already have so many library items on the shelves in 6 libraries.

Imagine within 10 to 20 years time how many library items we will be having on our shelves.

How are you going to find the item or information that you need for your studies?

How are Library Items arranged?

How do you find one book amongst 25,000 books placed on any of 1,000 shelves in any of our 6 libraries?

The two main parts of a library are:1. Fiction books are stories and

novels about people and adventures that are not real e.g. Harry Potter books

2. Non-Fiction books are about real people and things like a book about Mother Theresa or a book on Physics or Accounts

Fiction books

• These are found in a

separate fiction section on their own.

• They are arranged in alphabetical order using the first three letters of the author’s surname

• e.g. books by Dickens, Charles (marked DIC) are found before books by Rowling, J K (marked ROW)

• The spine labels are shown below

FDIC

FROW

Supermarkets and Librariesare very similar to each other!

rows and rows and shelves and shelves of items that need to be selected carefully

before buying or borrowing.

Arrangement of Non-Fiction items• As in a Supermarket or Department

stores, the 1,000s of items in a Library are arranged according to a classification system.

• In a Store one finds food items separate from clothes and separate from toiletries

• Frozen food items are kept separate from cold food items and separate from dry and fresh foods

Classification system in a Library

• In a library the 1,000s of non fiction books are arranged according to subjects each subject having a number from 001 to 999

• Books are placed on shelves according to these numbers starting with 001 moving across from left to right, and up to down to 999.

How subjects are grouped

A certain NY Librarian Melvil Dewey in the 19th century created a library classification (Dewey Decimal Classification - DDC) scheme for all subjects using a numbering system

More than 200,000 libraries worldwide in 135 countries count on this scheme to keep their collections organized so that their users can easily locate the resources they need.

What is Dewey Decimal Classification?Melvil Dewey divided, humanity’s , knowledge, ideas, and artistic creations into

Ten Main Classes spanning a range from 001 to 999:

(Book about hydraulic fluids)

000 Generalities100 Philosophy & psychology200 Religion 300 Social Science400 Language500 Natural science & mathematics 600 Technology (applied sciences) 700 The arts800 Literature & rhetoric900 Geography & history

Each major Class divides into Nine Divisions spanning a range of 10 to 90. For example:• 600 Technology• 610 Medical sciences Medicine• 620 Engineering and allied operations• 630 Agriculture• 640 Home economics & family living• 650 Management & auxiliary services• 660 Chemical engineering• 670 Manufacturing• 680 Manufacture for specific uses • 690 Buildings

Each sub-category is further divided into Nine specialized Sections ranging from 1 to 9:

• 620 Engineering & allied operations • 621 Applied physics• 622 Mining & related operations• 623 Military & nautical engineering• 624 Civil engineering• 625 Engineering of railroads, roads• 626 Not assigned • 627 Hydraulic engineering• 628 Sanitary & municipal engineering• 629 Other branches of engineering

By adding decimals, the specialized topics are broken down even further:• 621 Applied physics• 621.2 Hydraulic-power technology• 621.204 Special topics• 621.2042 Specific liquids• 621.20422 Water• 621.20424 Hydraulic fluids

Some Books & Periodicals in MCAST library

629.22205621.381 690

621 541.3 530M

663.200923 510

M623.1

351

Finding the number for a subject

• Specialized Library books (which we Library staff use) are published regularly giving numbers for all subjects especially new ones e.g. computer programs

Some of our Libraries provide charts listing the more important subjects in alphabetical order and their respective numbers

Finding the number for a subject

Subjects numbers in our web-page

• Our library web pages @ www.mcast.edu.mt/llrc/ contain an alphabetical list (in English and Maltese) of 100s of subjects and their respective Classification numbers

• Use this on-line facility to find the numbers of subjects you need. You will also find most of these numbers printed on the actual shelves and the sides of shelves in the library.

Collections in our Library

In a Supermarket the same food item may be stored in very different locations e.g. vegetables – fresh (in low temperature cabinets or plain

boxes ) – dried or preserved (on normal shelves) or – frozen (in freezers)

Collections

In the same way, in a library, books on the same subject may be shelved in different locations (collections) in the library– Lending section – books may be borrowed– Reference – books that can not be borrowed– Audio-Visual – films (VHS & DVD), CD ROMs,

DVD ROMs– Intermediate and Junior

Bookshelf Marks

Bookshelf marks help to identify the location of collections of books and other material, e.g.

R = Reference.

F = Fiction in English

FM = Maltese Fiction

A-V = Audio-Visual

A full list of these can be seen on our web-site

Finding out what the library has

• How does one find out what the MCAST Libraries have on their 1000 shelves and more?

• The Answer is the Library Catalogue or OPAC (on-line Public Access Catalogue) found on the Internet at www.mcast.edu.mt/llrc/

What is OPAC?Online Public Access catalogue.• All modern libraries now a days are making use

of the OPAC.• The OPAC is the library catalogue that is

available on the internet and it can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere.

• So if you need to know if the library holds the book that you need, if it is available and if not when it will be available, and many other useful Information – go to OPAC.

How can you make use of the MCAST OPAC?On the Internet, go to MCAST Home page, choose, Library, then choose `

Search our Catalogue page

Finding what you need in our Library

One can search using the “Search our catalogue” page by keying in a:– Any word/s in the title– Any part of an author’s name or surname– ISBN (unique ID number for most books)– A subject number (class mark DDC – list

provided) – A subject heading (list provided)

Finding what you need in our LibraryOne can also search using the “Your course

and the library” page also at www.mcast.edu.mt/llrc/ – Choose your Institute– Choose your course– Choose your Study Unit– Choose

• Search by Subject or • Search by Class

Locating the Catalogued item• Once an item is found on OPAC the following

details about the book should be noted (or printed)– Title – Author– Library– Shelf Mark (letters only)– Class (or subject) number if non fiction book– Location– Availability (is it already borrowed?)

If you find the following book

Advanced methods of machining

by the author McGeough, J.A.

You should write on a piece of paper the Class number. In this case 671.35

The first 3 letters of the Authors Surname. In this case McGrath,

MCG.

So this particular book has the following label on its spine:

671.35MCG

Other sources of information• Do not forget non-book items like

Magazines and CD-ROMs

• Ask your lecturers

• Go to other Libraries in Malta (check our web-pages)

• Search the Internet using http://www.ipl.org/div/teen/

We are here to help you.

For more information of using your library speak to any of our qualified and trained library staff who will always be pleased to help you