SANTA CATALINA SCHOOL LIBRARY HANDBOOK

As a center for independent study, reading and research, the library becomes the natural place to cultivate good study habits. In the months and years ahead you will turn to the library to supplement or interpret facts in your textbooks, to gather information for your reports, or to read for personal enrichment. The facilities and services described in this handbook and the rules and regulations for their use are designed to make your use of the library as effective and easy as possible.

AIDS TO THE USE OF THE LIBRARY

REFERENCE SERVICE

Please do not hesitate to ask the library staff for guidance, instruction or assistance in using the library. When no one is available at the circulation desk, ask for assistance in the office.

SEARCH STRATEGY

The type of information you are looking for will determine what kinds of sources you will use. Santa Catalina has five major collections: reference books, circulating books, periodicals, media and computer resources.

Reference Books The term "reference book" is used for those publications which have been designed to be consulted for pieces of information rather than to be read straight through. Such books have been organized and arranged for quick and easy use. The reference collection may supply exactly the information needed - as when consulting a dictionary for a definition or an almanac for a statistic; or it may be an introduction to a topic - using an encyclopedia; or a guide for further research - an index or bibliography. These materials are used in the library.
Circulating Books Most of the books in the Santa Catalina collection are monographs, prepared for students to check out and read. Whether located by browsing or through the catalog, examine a book carefully to be sure it meets your needs. Regulations on circulation are explained below.
Periodicals Periodicals (magazines) are an excellent resource for information on current events and current concerns. Periodicals may not be checked out. The library subscribes to a variety of general and specialized periodicals and the current issue of each is shelved in the lounge area for browsing. Back issues are kept in the periodical room. They are to be used in the library. The computers allow access to an electronic magazine index through Gale's Periodical databases which index magazines from 1980 to the present and include many full-text articles. The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature is another index to the information in the back issues of our periodicals. Current issues are on the index table by the computers and we have access to Reader's Guide Retrospective on the internet. The library also has selected articles of the New York Times on microfilm and microfiche and these are self-indexed. 
Media Videos, dvds, audiocassettes and cds, and CD-ROMs are available behind the circulation desk.
Computer Resources The library's computer terminals are your connection to the library catalog, CD-ROMs, and the Internet. On the Internet, you will find the library's web pages and connections to Grolier Online, Gale Group Databases and Reader's Guide Retrospective. Users of the library's computers must follow Santa Catalina's Internet/Network Policy and Guidelines as found in the school handbooks, and comply with any further restrictions that may be necessary to ensure that computers are available for research and scheduled class use.

HOW TO FIND A BOOK

CLASSIFICATION

To make it possible to find materials quickly and easily, all books and other media have been classified, or systematically arranged into groups, by subject. The Dewey Decimal Classification System is used here to bring books on the same subject together on the shelves. In this system, all knowledge is divided into ten main classes as follows:

The user must understand that materials are classified according to the subject given the greatest emphasis, which means that a class number may not include all the materials on a given subject that the library has. However, an understanding of the classification system helps to locate the materials quickly and enables you to go directly to that section of the library where most of the books or media on a given subject are shelved.

CALL NUMBERS

The numbers and letters on the label on the spine of an item are known as the call number. They match exactly the call number found in the catalog for a specific item. The call number has more than one part. If an "R", "J", "E", "C", "A", "V", "D", or "P" comes first, that is a shelving indicator. It tells you which section of the library to look in to find the book. The letter "R" indicates that the book is shelved on the reference shelves, "J" and "E" books are on the Lower School side of the library. "C" indicates computer materials, shelved at the front desk. J Kits (a book and matching audiotape) are shelved at the front desk. "V", "D" and "A" indicate video, DVD and audio, also shelved at the front desk. "P" books are paperbacks, which are shelved at the end of the high school classified section. If a number follows the indicator or if a number comes first, that is the classification or Dewey number, which represents the subject of the item. The next part is the author or Cutter Number, which starts with the initial of the author's last name or other organizing term plus numbers and letters which allow the item to be shelved more precisely. The Cutter number may even be followed by a date or volume number. With this labeling, each item has one (and only one) correct shelf location. If you have a problem with shelf order, please ask for assistance in reshelving items you use.

Materials are arranged on the shelves by call numbers in decimal order. Thus the books that have the following call numbers will appear in this order on the shelves:

Fiction In the Santa Catalina high school library, books of fiction are classified as literature and shelved according to the author's nationality. Novels written by American authors have the classification number 813; English authors 823. Examples: Mitchell's Gone with the Wind - 813 M862g, Conrad's Lord Jim - 823 C754L. A paperback collection is shelved at the end of the 900s

Biographies Whenever possible, biographies are classed with the subject the person is most closely related to and Cuttered by the last name of the subject of the biography.  Example: Huneker's Chopin: The Man and His Music - 780.92 C549H. Some collected biographies have too many subjects to classify and are in 920.

THE CATALOG

Essentially, the catalog is the listing of all the materials in the library with descriptive information about each one: author, title, publisher, physical appearance, special features, location, etc. It serves as an index to the library's collection. It is the principal means of finding material in the library. The library's computer catalog is a bibliographic database. All of the books and media for high school and lower school are indexed in the on-line catalog. You can search the library's catalog by author, title, subject, and keyword or browse by call number. Expert searching lets you combine search terms. The library catalog is available in the library on any networked computer as a separate program, or on the Internet through the library webpages.

When you choose to do an author or name search, type in the author's last name first, then a comma, and then the first name. If you know the title of the book or media item, you may use that to search. A subject word or phrase is listed in the computer for each subject that is fully treated in a book or on a media item. The words used as subjects and the order of words are from a controlled thesaurus and are used consistently throughout the catalog. For example, all books which deal with how to study are listed under "Study skills." You must type in the words or phrases exactly when you do a subject search. It is important to understand how subject terms may be phrased in order to locate materials. They may be straightforward, as "Creative writing" or "Costume"; or subdivided, as "France -- History -- Revolution"; or inverted, as "Airplanes, Military." Asking a librarian for assistance may be necessary. Keyword searches allow you to search for the occurrence of any single words in any area of the catalog database entry. Using the Boolean operators "and", "or" and "not" allows you to combine single words to refine a keyword search.
Right truncation is automatic in subject, title and author searches. The keyword index needs a question mark to force right truncation.

CIRCULATION OF MATERIALS

All material must be checked out at the circulation desk. A student presents books or media items to be checked out at the desk and announces her name to the staff member who then enters the check out into the computer system. The library material is stamped with the due date. Most books may be kept for a period of three to four weeks. They are always due on a Tuesday. Books may be renewed if there is no hold on them. CD-ROMS, DVDs, videos, or cassettes are always due on the Tuesday following check-out. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of when her library materials are due and to return them on time.
Students may check out a reasonable number of books and media items. Please be considerate of the needs of others.
Return materials to the circulation desk of the library.
A fine of five cents per day is charged for each item returned late. The fine will not be collected during the three day grace period following the due date, but from the fourth day on the full fine will be collected, starting at twenty cents and going up a nickel each day. You may not take out any more items when you owe a fine or have overdue library materials.
If you lose or damage a book or media item, you will pay the cost of replacing and processing it.
Students with overdue materials or fines at the end of the semester will not be admitted to exams.
Class Reserved Materials Books and other materials will be placed on in-library circulation by the library staff when a faculty member requests it. Kept on the shelves directly behind the circulation desk, they are signed out and returned to this section for in-library use only. CLASS RESERVED MATERIALS, REFERENCE MATERIALS, AND PERIODICALS ARE KEPT IN THE LIBRARY AT ALL TIMES SO THAT ALL STUDENTS MAY HAVE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO USE THESE MATERIALS. BORROWING WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION IS SELFISH AND WRONG.
Personal Reserves If the item you want is checked out, ask for a reserve to be placed on it at the circulation desk. When it is returned, we will send you a notice and hold the item temporarily for you to pick it up.

LIBRARY USAGE

The library is an attractive, shared, public space. On school days, it is part of the academic area of the school and is available for you as a quiet place to work alone during your unassigned class periods.

Please enter and leave the library through the main entrance only, even for a routine fire drill. All other exits are for EMERGENCIES ONLY.

The foyer is essentially a formal entrance to the library and an art gallery. DO NOT use it as a meeting place or a place to study or talk. Do not bring open food, gum, drinks, ink, or craft materials into the library anywhere, at any time.

PLEASE DO NOT TALK IN THE LIBRARY; it is a place of silence and consideration for those who wish to study, work or spend leisure time in reading.

Carrels or tables are provided for written assignments. The computer stations are for people using the computers. The lounge chairs may be used for periodical reading, pleasure reading or reading assignments. Please do not try to get caught up on your sleep in these chairs. As a public area, the library calls for appropriate dress and posture, especially in the lounge areas.

The mezzanine is reserved for those using the equipment and materials located there. The small listening rooms may be used by two students to study together quietly. Small groups may study together quietly at the table in the periodical room.

A copying machine for student use is located at the main desk. There is a fee of $.10 per copy. Students are given a chance to sign up for a card to run the machine for $5 or $10 worth of copies to be billed to the student's account. Additional $5 increments may be signed for at the library as needed.

When you leave the library, please leave your place in perfect order. Take everything that is yours with you; put the chairs back in place at tables or carrels; do not leave pieces of paper or debris.

Put books, CD-ROMS, magazines, and newspapers back where they belong. Remember that you expect to find things where they belong, as do others who follow you.

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