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Short Learning Progamme: Part 1 - Building Blocks of Information Literacy: Unit 3: Using the library

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  • The library plays a vital role in giving you access to information and helping you create new knowledge.
  • Librarians are key figures in our knowledge-based society. An academic library is connected to a university or college and is there to assist with academic research and exploration.
  • A library also helps users navigate information, providing tools for ethical and legal information searching, finding, and utilisation.

By the end of this unit, you will have a clear understanding of how the library is organised, the resources it offers, and where to find different sources of information.

Ask the following question:

How can the library help me to succeed academically?

Watch this video welcoming you to the library.

Follow this presentation to find out how the library can help you achieve assignment success.

Click on the image to learn more about the library.

This video explains the different library collections.

This video explains how to locate a book from the library's open shelves.

Dewey Decimal Classification 

Think what it would be like to use a library whose books were arranged in no special order. It would take you forever to find what you need. Classification systems organise library collections into subject-related categories, so similar topics will be grouped together on the shelf.

The Dewey Decimal Classification is a general knowledge organisation tool and is shared through the library’s online catalogue. In the DDC, basic classes are organised by disciplines or fields of study as illustrated by the image below:

 

Call Number:

A call number is a unique identification code assigned to each book that clearly identifies it from other books. For Example:

Class. 300     = Social Science
Call Number 305    = Groups of people
305.8    = Ethnics and National Groups, Culture and Race = Racism
Neo can find the call number on the spine of a book.

Watch this video on how to read a call number.

Electronic library

Hover over the image to read about our electronic library

 

Databases

 

Hover over the image to find out what a database is

Use your uLink username and password to access the library's electronic resources. Click here to view our library's databases

Electronic Course Reserves

 

  • ECR givesyou access to materials reserved for a specific course.
  • This can be prescribed books, recommended chapters, etc.
  • You can access materials for your course by typing the course name or by searching, using the lecturer's name.
  • Click here to access Electronic Course Reserves

How to find course reserves

Library catalogue

The library catalogue can be regarded as the library index (the same as a book index). It tells you exactly where materials meeting your specific needs can be found and you can search the catalogue using keywords, phrases, book titles, authors, and the call number.

Faculty subject guides

Faculty subject guides are library guides created by the Faculty Librarians, containing information and resources on a variety of topics related to your specific subject disciplines.

UJoogle: One-stop-shop

UJoogle is the library's search engine, similar to the search engine Google, linked to all the resources the library subscribes to.