GST 104: Library Use

A two-credit unit course that has a minimum duration of one semester, compulsory for all undergraduate students. Examines libraries, library services, reading habits, library resources, ICT, etc.

An organized collection of resources, accessible to a community for reference or borrowing, in physical or digital forms, ranging from books to digital databases.

These libraries are in institutions such as universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to meet information needs for staff and pupils.

Also known as special libraries. Catering to patrons with special and specific interest, privately owned and funded by the organisation that established them.

Attached to primary and secondary schools to serve the educational needs of pupils and students.

A library open to everybody and is generally accessible by the public. Its source of funding is public taxes, providing basic services without charge.

Established by the government. They do not allow citizens to borrow books with collections usually consisting of rare, valuable, or significant works.

The personal assistance given by reference personnel to library users in search of information.

Involves reader questing for a specific location within the library. Most readers, especially first-time users, find the services very useful.

Is when a reader asks a specific question relating to the use of library materials in the reference sections.

A current awareness service is the establishment of a system for reviewing publications immediately at receipt, selecting information pertinent to the programme of the organization served.

Informs reference librarian to loan a material from collaborating library for the user.

The librarian at the circulation section of the library is responsible for charging and discharging of library resources.

It equips users with adequate knowledge on the use of the library and enables users to effectively and efficiently use the library resources.

It provide users (especially in special libraries) with information that will promote their research and other day today activities. A customized service which is very common in academic and special libraries.

Directs a user to another library or alternative source if information is unavailable in its own library.

Is done when users request for a translation of information materials needed from English to indigenous language(s) that users can comprehend.

Common in special libraries. A systematic search for knowledge and information contained in resources of the library on a topic or theme.

They report a discovery or share new information through first-hand accounts and information to events presented. Void of all evaluations by various authors.

Created from primary sources to give account of describing, analysing, interpreting, evaluating, commenting or discussing evidence provided by primary sources.

Act as pointers to primary and secondary sources. Works list primary and secondary resources in a specific area.

A critical analysis of related literature to a research topic, also a summary of all available literature that is related to a research topic.

A searchable collection of published works, in electronic form. Helps the researcher to find reliable information from trusted sources.

A multi disciplinary database that provides full text for more than 4,600 journals, including approximately 3,900 peer reviewed titles. Is updated daily.

A digital library founded in 1995, originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals. It now includes books and primary sources, and current issues of journals.

Provides mostly full text searches to approximately 5000 legal, news, reference and business sources.

Is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. It delivers a broad overview of global interdisciplinary scientific information.

A database that provides access to collections in the fields of food, agriculture, environmental science and related social sciences.

Includes free and open provision of learning materials for educational purposes, enabled by information and communication technologies.

Repositories that specializes in specific or subject based disciplines in order to make data available to the public.

Containers the research output of an institution such as a university and makes it available to the public.

A complete organized record of all libraries' contents, the library catalogue points the reader to the exact location of the book on the shelf.

A list of bibliographic records in alphabetical order by various entries on pages of a book, gets easily out of date due to inflexibility

A file of cards usually in catalogue cabinet showing the users the library's collections. Cards are filed alphabetically, flexible.

Has photographed card catalogue or screen images that are transferred onto microform. Basically, they are used as backup as online catalogues have overtaken them.

Online Public Access Catalogue, the most modern form of catalogue, very flexible and can be easily updated.

Is the act of grouping like documents together, basically according to their subject content.

Most academic libraries use this scheme, it consists of 21 classes (A-Z).

Pure: It is also widely used especially in school libraries, it employs numbers, for further specificity of subject terms, it employs decimals.

This unit describes a structured organization of terms used to search a database, combine terms in order to retrieve the best result