Transcript Slide 1
Finding what you need in the Library
Introduction to Information Literacy
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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)
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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)
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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 :
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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 need
This 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
F
DIC
F
ROW
Supermarkets and Libraries
are 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 Generalities
100 Philosophy & psychology
200 Religion
300 Social Science
400 Language
500 Natural science & mathematics
600 Technology (applied sciences)
700 The arts
800 Literature & rhetoric
900 Geography & history
Each major Class divides into Nine
Divisions spanning a range of 10 to 90.
For example:
• 600 Technology
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610
620
630
640
650
660
670
680
690
Medical sciences Medicine
Engineering and allied operations
Agriculture
Home economics & family living
Management & auxiliary services
Chemical engineering
Manufacturing
Manufacture for specific uses
Buildings
Each sub-category is further divided into
Nine specialized Sections ranging from 1 to 9:
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620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
Engineering & allied operations
Applied physics
Mining & related operations
Military & nautical engineering
Civil engineering
Engineering of railroads, roads
Not assigned
Hydraulic engineering
Sanitary & municipal engineering
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
621
M
623.1
541.3
351
530
M
663.200923
510
621.381
629.22205
690
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
Finding the number for a subject
Some of our
Libraries provide
charts listing the
more important
subjects in
alphabetical order
and their
respective
numbers
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 Library
One 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)
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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:
671.35
MCG
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