The complete schedule of library hours is available online at http://www.albright.edu/library/hours.html but the regularly scheduled semester hours are:
o Mon. ? Thurs. 7:45 a.m. ? midnight
o Friday 7:45 a.m. ? 5:00 p.m.
o Saturday noon. ? 5:00 p.m.
o Sunday 1:00 p.m. ? midnight

The library has a simple online tour available as part of the Gingrich Guide at http://linux1.albright.edu/gguide_v2/tour/ that is designed to help familiarize you with the Gingrich Library and the resources available for research and other activities related to learning the fundamentals of finding information. It also has information on the educational technology resources available at the Library.

Of the best way to learn about the resources and services of the Library is to come and ask for assistance at the Library Reference or Circulation Desks. In addition, the Library website at http://www.albright.edu/library/ contains the resources available both on and off-campus to students, faculty, and staff. The ability to navigate through the resources on this page will help you complete your research more effectively and efficiently

4) How can I get Reference assistance?

The Reference Desk usually is staffed Monday-Friday from 9 am - 4:30 pm, Monday-Thursday from 6 PM - 10 PM and Sunday night from 6 pm to 9 PM During those hours librarians are there also answering the phone (610-921-7211) and email inquiries (Libraryref@alb.edu). Librarians are also available at selected other times -- check at the Circulation Desk.

If you need reference assistance when the library is closed or when no librarians are available, please use the new 24/7 reference backup service that we have available via Ask Here Pa. Ask Here PA is designed to provide fast answers to your questions, using information found on the Internet and in proprietary databases funded by libraries. In most cases, Ask Here PA librarians will provide an answer online in 15 minutes or less! If your question involves lengthy research, they will get you started and/or provide a referral for you or your question.
Librarians from across the state will try to assist you.

5) How can I find out what books and other materials the Library has?

The Library OPAC (Oonline Ppublic Aaccess Ccatalog) is available at http://jacob.albright.edu:6611 lists the cataloged books, periodicals, computer files, and DVDs & videos in the Gingrich Library, as well as those available in the Chemistry Library (1st floor, Science Building) Career Center Library (3rd floor, Selwyn Hall), Women's Center Library (3rd floor, Selwyn Hall) and the Philosophy Library (Chapel basement). The OPAC lists over 220,000 items, with more than 20,000 books available online.

6) Are the Library holdings listed anywhere else?

The complete Gingrich Library holdings (minus call numbers and availability status) can be searched by using the OCLC WorldCat database and limiting to the items in my library -- (Albright Library, code ABI). The WorldCat database contains information from tens of thousand libraries in the United States and abroad.

In addition, the Gingrich Library has just joined AccessPA, a statewide library catalog effort that as of July 2006 covers 2,948 libraries and contains approximately 13.5 million titles and over 61 million items. The Library expects its main library and chemistry library materials to appear in that catalog by October 2006. The combined AccessPA catalog is available at http://205.247.101.11/ and lists our call numbers but not availability.

7) What classification system do you use for your books at Albright?

Books and other materials in the Gingrich Library are organized by the Dewey Decimal Classification System that most students should be familiar with from using their local public or school libraries. If you need a refresher on the Dewey Decimal System, consider looking at the Let's Do Dewey tutorial from the Middle Tennessee State University..

On the 2nd Floor ? Call Numbers 000-799 & the Folio collection of oversized items (FOLIO)

On the 3rd Floor ? Call Numbers 800-999 & the bound periodicals

All other collections are in closed stacks and need to be requested at the Circulation Desk.

Sorry, you need to contact or visit the Circulation department to ask for which materials are checked out to your account. You can contact the Circulation Desk by calling 610-921-7517 or mailing to LibraryCIRC@alb.edu.
If you have the materials in hand, you can use our Online Renewal Request Form to renew any books or AV materials (DVDs or videotapes) you have checked out. The online renewal request form cannot be used for short term use items such as Reserve materials or AV equipment.

Reserve materials are books or AV materials that your professors want the class to use and make available in the Library for limited circulation periods -- anywhere from 2 hours in the library to 7 days that you can take out of the Library. These materials are listed in the OPAC and can be obtained by going to the Circulation Desk's Reserve section and talking to the staff working there. All items are filed first by faculty name, then by item title, so knowing your professor's name is important to use this service.

Library owns about 600? periodical subscriptions in hard copy and over 10,000? full text titles available electronically.

All print and online journals can be located by using the Journal Locator link on the Library Home page and embedded in many of the journal databases. When the item is a print title, the Journal Locator will refer you to the OPAC to see details on the years and format available for that title.

The recent issues of the magazines and journals are stored in alphabetical order by title on the first floor of the Library in the back right (from the main entrance) section labeled "Current Periodicals" and the back issues are either bound and shelved on the third floor of the library or stored on microfiche next to the Current Periodicals area.

Current newspapers are stored on top of the shelving containing the Leisure DVDs (to the left of the Reference Desk). Back issues are stored at the end of the Current Periodicals area.

Addition assistance for periodicals can be obtained from the Reference Desk on the first floor or by calling 610-921-7211 or emailing Libraryref@alb.edu.

12) If I want a particular book or video, what do I do?

Go to Library homepage and mouse over the "Books and Videos" button and select the "Albright OPAC - Library Catalog" option.
Click on the "Catalog Search/ Click Here" alternating button. Type in the title you want and click the Search button. If the item is available, click on the book or media icon to see the full citation information and the call number (that appears at the bottom of the record.

13) What if that item isn't in the OPAC?

If the book or video is not in the OPAC/Library Catalog, you have 2 options to request that the Gingrich Library borrow the material from another library for you (this is called Interlibrary Loan or ILL).

Go to the Library homepage and mouse over the "Books and Videos" button and select the "WorldCat - Worldwide Libraries" option. Since this catalog contains millions of items, you need to be a little more specific in what you input. Type in the title you want in the search box, change the index you want to search to "Title" and add in as much other information that you know (e.g., an author's name, publication date, material format. etc.). Then click on the Search button above the Search box.
Click on the title link for the item you want, and find the gray ILL button so that you can request the item by Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Fill in the request information (which is saved only for the length of the current login) and be sure that you get a green acknowledgment of success. If not, repeat the request.
A library reference staff person will acknowledge the ILL and provide email updates to you on the status of the ILL request.

If you just want to hand type an ILL request form, go to the Library homepage and mouse over the "Library Services" button and select the "Request ILL Book" option and fill out the form.

14) What if I found a journal or newspaper citation in a bibliography and want to read it?.

To find out whether or not the Gingrich Library has a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper, you need to know the journal title and use the Journal Locator. If the citation is a journal article, e.g., Glickman, C. (May 2006) Educational Leadership: Failure to Use Our Imagination. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(9), 689-90, you would go to the Journal Locator, type in Phi Delta Kappan and look carefully at the results. You would see the following listing:

Phi Delta Kappan (0031-7217)

from 1951-53, 1957 to 06/30/2002 in Albright College Print Holdings
from 01/01/1992 to 09/01/2006 in ProQuest Research Library
from 01/01/1994 to present in Wilson OmniFile: Full Text Mega Edition

You can see that the print copies of this title stop in 2002 but the online databases in ProQuest and Wilson have this title. You can click on either of these titles and look for vol. 87, issue number 9 for the article you seek. If you could not find the article you wanted you would have to have requested it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

15) How can I find a journal article on a specific topic?

The Library maintains a subject list of the most popular databases and a complete list of all databases with descriptions and help files. Selecting the correct database is the first step in finding the information for which you are looking. Once you know the database and search strategy you can look for your articles. Be aware that everything is NOT available in full text!!!

16) What if the article I find and want to read is not available in full text in my database?

The Library may have the article you want in print or in full text in another database. In order to check this out, look at the database to see if it has any links to check a Journal Locator link or see if Albright owns the material. The Journal Locator searches through all of the databases we subscribe to and all of the journal titles we own in print in the library to see if the item is available. Clicking on the links provided will give us you access to the journal or more information about the journal. A library reference staff person will acknowledge the ILL and provide email updates to you on the status of the ILL request.

If the journal you seek is not available at Albright, you will need to request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). To hand type an ILL request form, go to the Library homepage and mouse over the "Library Services" button and select the "Request ILL Journal" option and fill out the form.

17) How long does Interlibrary Loan (ILL) take and does it cost anything?

ILL can take anywhere from 2 days to 1 month, depending on how unusual or popular the item you want may be, Most requests that the Gingrich Library makes are filled in less than 1 week, but we ask that you allow at least 2 weeks to receive your materials. The reason for the difference in shipment dates may depend on availability of the materials at libraries we can borrow from or how it is shipped to the library.

Although ILL is an expensive service for the Library, it does not charge for ILL services but does maintain the right to curtail excessive or seemingly inappropriate requests. Students may need faculty approval to request certain type of materials. More information on ILL services and policies is available online.

18) What resources do you have to learn more about doing research?

The Library has an online research training tutorial, called the Gingrich Guide, ver 2, which has been rewritten for first year students although it would be helpful to anyone who is interested in learning more about topic creation, research and presentation.

In addition, the library has additional paper handouts on many of the databases we carry and a reference librarian can assist you in your research during regular reference hours.

19) I like to use the Internet but my professor said not to use it? What does this mean?

Most professors would prefer that the sources you read and cite are high quality sources and are not from the open and uncontrolled Internet. This means that they would prefer that you use the library supplied databases and possibly some selected Internet sites that they might recommend to ensure that the materials you read are from reliable, unbiased sources.

20) Once I find information, how can I get help to cite it?

The Library maintains several handouts on citing materials from print or electronic media. Many resources can be found on the web. Check out the link to Assembling A List of Works Cited in Your Paper (Duke University Libraries), the OWL at Purdue section on Research and Citation or the Landmark Citation Machine to format a citation in APA or MLA.

MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON!

Last updated on February 22, 2008