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