Maximizing your use of the NCSU Libraries

Tamika BarnesEngineering Services Librarian

Stephen MeyerNCSU Libraries Fellow

What do we do at the Libraries

• Acquire and organize information resources (like books, journals, and electronic databases)

• Assist faculty, staff, and students in identifying and using the resources

• Strive to preserve resources for future users as a record of collective knowledge

• Provide open access to these resources for our user community

• Develop new technologies to facilitate the use of information resources

Specialized Collections

• Patent Depository

• Government Documents

• Geographic Information System

Services• Laptop Lending

• Standards on Demand

• Interlibrary Loan

• Digital Media Lab

• Scholarly Communication

• SearchAssist

NCSU Libraries manage a largenumber of resources including

• Books

• Reference works

• Journals / magazines / newspapers

• Databases

• Technical Reports

Books

• 3.1 million books at NC State Libraries

• Accessible through the Libraries website (OPAC)

Reference WorksTypical characteristics

• Consist of a series of records related to a single topic; topics may be broad or specific

• Not meant to be read from cover to cover

• Employ a writing style that is meant to be informative (rather than subjective)

• The internal organization of these works tends to favor quick access, e.g., alphabetical or numeric rather than chronological order

JournalsTypical characteristics

• These resources are serials, publications issued in successive parts intended to be continued indefinitely

• May be published in print or electronic format or both

• Include many different types: scholarly, trade, popular

Databases

• An information set with a regular structure

• Used to both store information and organize it for efficient searching and retrieval

Databases (cont’d)

A crucial database distinction:

Surrogate records

vs.

Content

Databases – parting thoughts

• Names indexed differently:de los Reyes, FLde los Reyes, F.L.de los Reyes, Francis L.de los Reyes, Francis L., IIIde los Reyes III, F.L.

• Look for differences in advanced search features (truncation, plurals, limits)

• Search in multiple databases