What do librarians do?
Librarians support students and faculty on campus by providing access to resources, helping with research projects, helping students and faculty understand copyright related to media use, and being advocates for intellectual freedom and equitable access to knowledge. This means that we work to ensure that our campus can access the information needed to expand the intellectual pursuits of the college community. You might also see librarians as the intermediaries of society, helping our communities to access and process information, whether that is the information you receive from your professor for specific assignments, or the research needed to become an expert in your field of study. We help you get to where you need to be and are just one of the many resources available to students on campus to help them succeed. What is your favorite thing that the library offers?
What are the fall semester hours? Are they different than the autumn term hours? what are the hours the library is open?What would you say the less active times for the library are?
You can always find our library hours on the website or on our Google calendar hours. Mornings and weekend afternoons are typically pretty quiet.
Do we need anything other than our IDs to check out a book?
Nope, Eckerd ID is all you need. Just scan it into the scanner at the Circulation desk when checking out books. How long can we check a book out for? Check outs are 30 days for books with two renewals.
If the bookstore has our textbooks on backorder, do you have textbooks available to checkout? It depends on the textbook.
We typically do not have textbooks in the collection but some faculty may place copies on Course Research. Use OneSearch to check. How do you check out DVDs? Is it just like books? Yes, find the call number in OneSearch, grab it from the Film Collection, and check it out with your Eckerd ID. DVDs check out for one week only.
I was wondering how the process of checking out a book works. Could you please explain that?
You can browse the collections or search for a specific book in OneSearch, grab the call number in OneSearch get it from the appropriate section of the library (usually Stacks or Leisure), and check it out with your Eckerd ID at the Circulation Desk. Just ask for help if you can’t find something.
Do you get an email or something when a book is due, or do you just have to remember?
What happens if a book you checked out is overdue? Is there a fee for overdue books? If so, what is it?
We will email you a reminder but we won’t charge any late fees unless you lose or damage the book. How often do you receive new books? Usually weekly or biweekly. There is no set schedule but most of our buying happens throughout the fall and spring. Are there any books that we are not allowed to check out at the library, such as reference books or dictionaries, or are they all available to check out? You got it, nothing from the Reference section and no journals or newspapers.
I don't really have a question about the resources of the library, but I was wondering if the library is decorated for holidays like Christmas, Halloween, etc.
Yes! We try to be festive throughout the year. We also like to collect memes at the circulation desk so feel free to drop one off if you find something relevant/appropriate.
What does a banned book mean?
A banned book is one that has been challenged or removed from a school, public, or academic library collection because a member of the community disagrees with its subject matter or other contents of the book. It happens most often at the school and public library level. As advocates for intellectual freedom, libraries celebrate Banned Books Week in September/October to encourage the freedom to read, regardless if something is divisive or disagreeable.
Can you bring a sack and/or a drink into the library?
Covered drinks are okay but snacks and full-on meals are not.
Is there a section of the library for music such as piano scores that are available for checkout?
We have a small collection of classical music scored in our Oversize area on the 1st floor.
How do I upload more money to Papercut?
Go to https://papercut.eckerd.edu/user and click Add Credit on the left. Is the copier always accessible to use or is there an hour restriction?
Copier is only available during library hours but the B/W and Color Printers in the Computer Lab are available 24/7.
A year or so ago, I saw a desk/computer in the library that seemed to be a film enlarger or converter - I don't know if it is still there, but I was curious to know what it is for?
This might be the book scanner? That is still there and is a scanner that anyone is welcome to use. You might also be thinking of the microfilm machine, which is used to read microfilm that is borrowed from other libraries. We do not have microfilm ourselves.
How many people are allowed in one study room at a time?
Small study rooms can have 2 people while large rooms can have up to six. Full policies are here: https://www.eckerd.edu/library/information/study-rooms/
What are the resources that we get to have access to as students?
What is the easiest way to locate your sources in the library?
How do you access the jstor database? can you access it using Eckerd login?
How many article databases do we have access to? Are there ones that are more popular to use than others? (ex. EBSCO, Academic Premier, Academic Gale One)
What are some sources/sites you feel are necessary we know about for this class and/or research?
What are some of the best sources in your opinion?
You can access the 200+ databases available to the Eckerd community, including JSTOR, through the Databases tab on our website, or by searching OneSearch. Popularity varies by discipline but using OneSearch will help you search the majority of resources we have access to.
Others that deserve their own mention are the following (use Databases tab to find these):
How can we develop a good, thorough research question? How do you suggest we make our research question clear and concise for our readers?
Research questions should be open-ended, and clear about what is being studied.
How would you recommend one narrows down their interests or topic to aid research?
Is there any tricks to finding a very specific area of study (ex: a particular year in a region?)
Sometimes when starting a new research project, it can take a lot of time, or just be hard, to narrow down your topic to just one specific topic or piece. We read a bit about this in our book, however, what is your advice that helps you to quickly narrow this information down? How can we search for peer reviewed articles on environmental issues
What is the best way to narrow down our searches to a more manageable amount of articles?
How can I limit the search engine to more specific words or topics when trying to find specific articles?
What are some tips/shortcuts for having more accurate searches on OneSearch? (example: Things you can include in the search bar to search for exact phrases or words, or simply a broad search around a word.)
What is the most effective way too narrow down what we want our research topic to be?
My top OneSearch 5 research tips:
“Climate change”
Consumers
Behavior
What are some common mistakes you see when researching a certain topic?
The biggest problem is putting in too many words into OneSearch. This might work with Google, but for library databases, it can give you few or no results, which can be very discouraging. Its best to start simply with 2-3 search terms, then add alternative terms as needed.
What happens if we are In need of a book/ document/ article that the Eckerd library does not own a physical copy or online version of? Or If they have little to none useful sources for a specified research topic?
When using an online resource that needs to be borrowed, when will this become available to be used once applied to borrow?
How much time does it usually take to get access to an article when you need to put in a request?
Can we access sources that aren't free through the school? Ex. A database/journal article
Is there a way to get access to journals or articles that the school might not have?
How do you get an article from a different library if we don't have it?
Keep in mind that OneSearch shows you resources that we have access to as well as one’s that we don’t. My first suggestion is to use the Available Online limiter on the left to show only articles we have access to. If you still aren’t finding relevant sources, you can uncheck this box and see what other libraries might have that you can borrow.
When you find one of these, it will have you log into our interlibrary loan app to request the article. This take 1 - 3 days and you will get an email or text once the article is available for you to download.
What is the best way to determine credibility on non-peer reviewed articles? Our reading went over how filtering only peer-reviewed academic articles is the best way to establish credibility, however that makes it significantly harder to find information on more current events. How do you navigate this? Are there any sources that help with finding information online?
There are a variety of ways to evaluate information but key things to keep an eye on are a source’s authority (author and/or publication), and potential for bias, especially for current events. The website All Generalizations are False maintains a useful media bias chart to help with this. You can see additional resources to help with this on our Evaluating Sources page: https://libguides.eckerd.edu/HE2022/evaluatingsources
What are the best websites to use for MLA and APA formats
If we have question about citations (MLA, APA, Chicago) on our paper, are we able to meet with someone from the library who will help us with it? With or without appointment?
Also in the reading we just did it talked about looking for sources that have cited the source you are currently using. I was wondering how I could do that?
Do we have access to bibliography websites?
Are you able to help me cite my sources properly?
Citations are often difficult. Can we come to you for help with them?
Depending on the style you need to use, you may refer to different websites for specific formatting recommendations. We have compiles all of these here: https://libguides.eckerd.edu/cite
Librarians can always help with citing sources. We will show you the basics to get you started and can help you review your Works Cited/References page for common mistakes.
Getting Help
I know there is a writing center but Is there any places within the library that I could get quick help while I'm working?
During the daytime, just stop by the Circulation Desk for help. Librarians on duty will come out to meet you. During the evening, you can get help from the librarian at the Reference Desk on the 1st floor.