Just like language and culture, libraries around the world are quite different. In some places, students can't walk around and look at books freely; only library workers can. In other places, library workers just take care of the library materials and building and don't help the students with research. In other places, only teachers can use the library. But what about the United States? What are the important points of library culture here?
#1 - Librarians are highly educated and are here to help! All librarians study for years to learn how to help people in the library. Especially at a university, a librarian is a teacher too. They help you find books, but they can also teach you how to use library technology, do research, and create a good research paper. It's important that you ask them for help! You can do that at the Reference Desk or through email or chat.
#2 - Libraries are open to all! Students can walk freely around the library looking, reading, and touching the materials. American libraries use "open stacks" which means that almost all the materials available are on big shelves around the library. There are some materials that are kept outside of the the library building or in special storage because they are delicate or rare, but if you ask a librarian, you can probably see those items too! Use the library catalog to find the "call number" of the book you want (that's the number on the side of the book), then walk up to the shelf and get it!
#3 - You can borrow materials from the library and take them home! Here are the general rules:
|
Undergraduate |
You can borrow up to 50 items |
You can keep them until the end of the current semester (you can renew up to 3 times) |
| Graduate | You can borrow up to 100 items |
You can keep them until the end of the current semester (you can renew up to 3 times) |
You can find other, more specific information about borrowing books on the Materials & Circulation Info page. Don't forget to return your items at the end of the semester - you will have to pay money for late books! You can return your books to many places - there is an outdoor return outside the Melville Library entrance, and you can return books at the desk in the Stacks. You can also log in to your My Library Account with your NetID and password to check the books you borrowed or renew your books.
#4 - You can borrow materials from other libraries! This is called ILL (inter-library loan). If you find a book or an article that isn't on SBU campus, we can ask another university to send it here. You can request ILL from the Reference or Circulation desk, or you can use sign in with your NetID and password at the ILL website.
#5 - Libraries are not only for reading! Students can attend events, learn about new technology and library news through the blog, watch streaming video through our streaming videos services, use computers, printers, copiers, and scanners in the Main Reading Room, and even reserve special study areas for group study.
First, go to the SBU Library Website and enter the title or topic you want to search for and press "enter":
Next, look at the results. On the right, you will see the list of items from the search. On the left, you will see "modifiers" - ways to change your search.
We're lucky! The first entry (#1) is the book we're looking for. Click the title to see more information about it.
The "call number" is what we use to find the book. You can find the call number on the side of the book on a small white sticker. This is what it looks like:
The first part - "Main" - tells you where the book is (the main stacks that begin on the third floor of Melville Library).
The second part is a number and letters - this is called LCC (the Library of Congress Classification). Basically, the Library of Congress created a special systems that helps librarians put books with similar subjects together on the shelves. If you're interested, you can read a little about it here. You don't need to know what the letters mean - the important thing is how to find the book!
How to follow the call number to your book: The first letter tells you the big section the book is in. At SBU, Z is on the 3rd floor of the stacks. Next we see 675 - so inside of the section Z, we look for the number 675... and so on. Each number after the "." will always be inside the 675 section. Don't forget, if you see any letters in the call number, it will always be alphabetical order. Continue to the end of the number. Each time you will come close and closer to your book until you find it!
Circulation and Reference Desk - a place to ask questions, borrow and return books, reserve study rooms, and borrow materials like whiteboard markers and erasers.
Good questions for the Reference/Circulation Desk:
Library Information Questions:
Research Questions:
Libraries use a lot of special vocabulary to describe the different materials inside of them. What is a database? How is a journal different from a magazine? What's a call number? Find out in the helpful websites below:
How can you make your searches better? Sometimes you have too many results, and sometime you don't have enough.
There are special tools that you can use to make your searches better, and you know them well from your English classes!
They are AND, NOT, OR, and * --> This kind of searching is called Boolean searching.
Here are some examples of search terms using AND, NOT, OR, and *
AND = when the computer searches, it will only give you results that have BOTH words (rabbits AND spring)
NOT = when the computer searches, it will only give you results that have the word (so, documents with dogs, but not dogs and wolves, and not wolves)
OR = when the computer searches, it will give you results that have any of the search words (so, documents with red, documents with red and pink, and documents with only pink)
* = when the computer searches, it will give you results with different word endings (so, when we search scholar*, we will get documents with scholars, scholarship, scholarly, scholastic, etc.)
There is an excellent explanation on Boolean searching here. You can also learn more about different ways to search at the SBU Research help page.
Library Administration: 631.632.7100
