Table of Contents: General | Library Locations | The Library Web Site | Finding Books and Other UNF Library Materials | Checking Out Library Materials | Finding Materials at Other Libraries | Borrowing Materials from Other Libraries | Finding Journal Articles: Research Databases | Citation Databases (ISI) | Keeping Track of and Referencing Sources: RefWorks | Research Guides and General References | Key Contacts
This guide is provided as a quick reference to types of materials and services offered to researchers using the Thomas G. Carpenter Library. Links to other library guides and pages within this guide will help provide researchers with more in-depth information on library services and resources. The most complete information on the library is available from the library's website at http://www.unf.edu/library.
General Information About the Thomas G. Carpenter (UNF) Library (see also: Library Guide)
The UNF Library provides graduate researchers with a wealth of in-house and electronic resources to facilitate research in nearly any discipline. Recently renovated and expanded (2005), the library offers researchers a comfortable, modern facility equipped with nearly 200 public computer workstations, card-operated printing and copying facilities, and seating for nearly 2,000 users. Available resources include a book collection of over three quarters of a million volumes, audio-visual materials in excess of 100,000 items, nearly 2500 print journal and magazine subscriptions, over 50,000 electronic books, over 130,000 government publications, and over 13,000 electronic, full-text journals. Library staff include 21 professional librarians, 24 support staff, and 35 student employees.
Currently, the library is open for research 7 days a week (except for holidays and semester breaks), a total of 121 hours per week. Current library operating hours are posted on the library's website at http://www.unf.edu/library/info/libhours.html.
The library is located on UNF Drive not far from the St. Johns Bluff and 9A entrance to the campus. It sits across the campus green from the Fine Arts Building and Parking Garage 44. (see Campus Map) The library building has four floors. Public entry to the library is from a lake-side deck that runs from Parking Lot 2 to the campus core.
1st Floor -- The first floor of the library houses the Access Services unit of the library, the Media Collections, Special Collections, and the library's Techical Services Division. Access Services handles check out and renewal of books, government publications, and other library materials, billing of late and lost library items, patron library access issues, Interlibrary Loans, Course Reserves, Media Reserves, and audiovisual materials. The library's Media Collection includes videos in numerous formats (DVD, VHS, Beta), sound recordings in multiple formats (CDs, LPs), children's books, music scores, and curriculum materials. The Special Collections section of the library houses the university's archives, rare and valuable materials, local history collections, and papers, letters, and memorabilia for numerous notable Jacksonville area dignitaries. The Technical Services Division of the library handles ordering, receiving, processing, binding, repairing, and cataloging of all materials that are placed in the library's collections.
2nd Floor -- The library's Reference and Government Documents Departments are located on the 2nd floor of the library as is the library's administrative office. One of the busiest floors in the library, the 2nd floor has more than 170 public access computers, two library instruction training rooms each with 40 seats and computers, 9 group studies, 3 campus classrooms, two Reference service areas, Reference and Documents offices, numerous work areas for researchers, and the library's Reference and Documents collections. Library users needing assistance in using the library and its many online systems should consult librarians at the 2nd floor Reference Service desk.
3rd Floor -- The third floor houses the library's Periodicals Collections, the Index/Abstract Collection, the Bibliography Collection, and part of the main book collection, or General Collection. Periodicals take up most of the floor and are located on the side of the building closest to the campus core. While most of the magazines, journals, and newspapers are actually kept in print or bound format, a number of weekly magazines and daily newspapers are archived on either microfilm or microfiche. Equipment for viewing and printing or saving pages from microformat materials is available in a reading room adjacent to the Periodicals Service Desk. Staff at the Periodicals Desk can assist library users with finding materials in the Periodicals Collection and with using reading and copying equipment. Books in the library's General Collection with call numbers beginning with the letter Q through the letter Z are also housed on the 3rd floor of the library.
4th Floor -- The largest portion of the library's General Collection is housed on the fourth floor. Books having call numbers beginning with the letter A through the letter P are housed on the 4th floor. Graduate study carrels are also located on the 4th floor. Study carrels are assigned for an entire semester at the beginning of the semester and must be applied for. Researchers interested in applying for a carrell can do so online. http://www.unf.edu/library/info/carrelapplication.pdf
Information about the library and its services is available through the library's web site at http://www.unf.edu/library. Many services can be requested online using forms available from the site. Library researchers wishing to work off campus will be required to log into the library's site in order to use copyrighted and licensed research materials. Currently the library subscribes to over 200 different research databases, all of which require login from off campus, and an online book collection of more the 52,000 titles (Netlibrary). Login requires a researcher to provide either their N number or library number (both of which are printed on the OspreyCard) and the last four digits of the social security number. This ensures that only current UNF researchers get access to the library's licensed databases and collections.
Finding Books and Other Materials Housed in the Library
The library's online catalog is the official index to materials owned by the library. All print and media materials physically housed in the library are indexed by the catalog. A typical catalog entry includes the title of the item, author name(s), publishing information (place of publication, publisher, date of publication), physical location in the library, library collection name, and call number. Each item listed in the catalog includes a physical description (number of pages, type of media, inclusion of illustrations, etc.) and subject description based on the Library of Congress cataloging system. Many book descriptions will also include tables of contents. Catalog entries for videos frequently include brief synopses of the videos. Music recording entries typically include song listings and additional physical description. The aim of the catalog is to provide researchers with enough information to evaluate potentially useful information sources before they begin looking for the materials in the library's collections, much as article databases provide abstracts to help researchers evaluate sources.
Books in the library's General Collection and Reference Collection are cataloged according to Library of Congress classification, which means that they are organized on the shelves into very specific subject categories. A brief browsing guide to LC classification is available in the library's web site at http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/lc.html. To find a specific book, a researcher will need to use the catalog to find its individual call number since no two books will have exactly the same call number.
Materials in the United States Documents collection are organized according to the United States Superintendent of Documents classification system, or SuDocs. This groups materials on the shelf by government department or agency. For example, publications issued by the President's office will be shelved in the PrEx call number area of the U.S. Documents Collection. An overview of the department classification letters is available online (http://www.unf.edu/library/doc/usgd.html). Researchers wishing to read more about the SuDocs system can find more detailed information online at http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/explain.html.
Florida Documents are cataloged according to the Florida Documents Classification system, which arranges materials (similar to the U.S. collection) by state department or agency. The Florida Documents scheme was created by Florida Atlantic University to help organize and classify materials received from state offices. An overview of the department classification letters is available online (http://www.unf.edu/library/doc/fgdg.html).
Government publications can be located by using the library's online catalog, just like books. The "advanced search" in the catalog allows a researcher to limit a search just to the Government Documents Collection. Simply limit the Location to "Government Documents."
Media collections include videos in multiple formats, music recordings in multiple formats, music scores, and curriculum materials. The Curriculum Collection uses the Library of Congress subject classification system with call numbers preceded by the letter Y. For example, psychology books in the library's main collection generally fall into the BF call numbers. Children's books dealing with psychology will be in the Curriculum Collection in the YBF call numbers.
Videos are assigned LC call numbers just like books. Music discs in LP format are assigned LC call numbers. CDs, however, are assigned 7-digit numbers that don't classify them by subject area. As with other library materials, these are searchable using the library's catalog.
University of North Florida archives, papers and memorabilia of local area dignitaries, rare and valuable materials, and other library materials that need special protection are kept in the library's Special Collections area. Materials can be located in the library's catalog, but individual items in a collection have their own specialized indexes. Additional help with Special Collections is available by appointment. Visit the Special Collections web site for further information at http://www.unf.edu/library/sc.
The library maintains current subscriptions to around 2400 magazines, journals, and newspapers. These publications, both current and historic, are housed on the third floor of the library. The library's catalog can be used to search for periodicals by title (for example, Time, Rolling Stone, American Sociological Review) or by subject area (history, psychology, religion, etc.), but it cannot be used to locate articles within a specific journal or magazine. Library's databases provide indexing for articles. To find a listing of psychology journals in the UNF Library, for example, a researcher can use the "advanced search" in the catalog and search for the topic psychology and limit the search to the Location "Periodicals." Again, the catalog does not search for articles within newspapers, magazines, and journals; this functionality is available in the library's research databases.
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Catalog Search Tips: *The basic search is intended for quick access to materials in the library through a Google-like search interface. Advanced Search offers researchers much more control over search strategies and search limits. *Use Advanced Search to limit search results by language, by location or library collection (General Collection, Media Collection, Periodicals Collection, etc.), by material format (CD, DVD, books, etc.), and by date range. *Advanced Search allows researchers to limit their keyword searches to titles, to authors, to subjects, and by other means. *Phrase searching in the library's catalog and in many other online systems is indicated by enclosing two or more words in quotation marks. For example, a search for materials that contain the phrase educational accountability would be entered as "educational accountability" in the search box. |
Checking Out Library Materials
The OspreyCard is used as identification for checking materials out of the library. The default loan period for graduate students is 5 weeks. This varies by collection. Videos, for example, can be checked out for 1 week. Graduate students may check out up to 250 books at the time. Books may be renewed online by using the library's catalog. The "Renewals/Library Account" link in the catalog requires login with the N number or library number. Once authenticated, a library researcher can renew books directly online multiple times for a maximum period of one year. Any item is subject to recall for placement in the library's Reserve Reading Collection or if another library user has placed a hold on the item. Further information on the library's borrowing policies is available at the Access Services web site.
Finding Materials at Other Libraries (WorldCat)
The most comprehensive database of library collections worldwide, WorldCat provides a single search interface for hundreds of library catalogs. WorldCat searches all material cataloged by OCLC member libraries including: books, manuscripts, websites and internet resources, maps, computer programs, musical scores, films and slides, newspapers, journals, and magazines, sound recordings, articles, chapters, papers, and videotapes. Coverage extends to materials created before 1000 BC up to the present. Over 400 libraries are represented worldwide.
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WorldCat Search Tips: *The Basic Search screen is a good starting place for general browsing or for locating specific titles or specific authors' works. Advanced Search offers researchers many more options for specifically describing types of materials desired. *WorldCat is not a good source for finding articles published in periodicals. Even though the official database description suggests that they do cover articles and book chapters, this is the case only if one of the participating libraries actually indexes individual articles. Article searching is best handled in one of the library's subject databases. *Searches done from the Advanced Search screen can be limited by year or by range of years, by language, by type of material (books, videos, music scores, sound recordings, etc), by number of libraries owning the items, by audience (juvenile, not juvenile), by format (large print, VHS, DVD, CD, etc.), and by content type (fiction, nonfiction, thesis/dissertation, etc.). *Results can be ranked by relevance, by number of owning libraries, by date, and by accession number. *Interlibrary loans for items not owned by UNF Library can be initiated directly from WorldCat using ArticleLinker. *Specific search terminology can be discovered using the index look-ups that appear to the right of the search boxes in the Advanced Search screen. |
WorldCat is not the only means by which researchers can locate other library materials. Most libraries maintain their own online catalogs and can be searched individually or, as is the case with State University Libraries in Florida, collectively through so-called union catalogs. Florida's State University Libraries can be searched collectively using the same online catalog system that searches UNF's library holdings. The same search capabilities are available in the union catalog as are available in the individual catalogs.
Getting Materials from Other Libraries (Interlibrary Loan)
The library can obtain materials not available in the UNF Library from other libraries that participate in the national Interlibrary Loan system. Requests for books or other materials can be made directly through the library's ILLiad system or by using ArticleLinker from within a library database. The Interlibrary Loan office in the library manages all aspects of ILL once a researcher has submitted a request, including deciding which libraries to make the request of, contacting the requestor for further information or with status updates, receiving and checking out ILL materials, and returning loans to the source libraries. Questions about Interlibrary Loan should be directed to the library's Access Services Department. There is no charge for this service. The library will request materials ONLY if they are not owned by the UNF Library.
Loans: Books, government documents, and other materials too large or unwieldy to photocopy will typically be handled as loan requests. In most cases, loans will be for a limited time period (typically 2 or 3 weeks) with an option for renewal.
Copies: Journal articles are typically requested as copies. In many cases the library can get copies electronically, which shortens turnaround time. Copies can be requested either from the library's online request form or by using ArticleLinker from within a library database.
Turnaround: Electronically transmitted documents (article copies) might be available within a few days. Materials sent in physical format by mail may not be available for several weeks. The library cannot guarantee a particular delivery date for materials requested through ILL. Researchers should submit requests well in advance of the date when the materials are actually needed.
Interlibrary Loan Policy: Complete information on interlibrary loan is available online at http://www.unf.edu/library/circ/ill.html.
Finding Journal Articles: Research Databases
The library subscribes to more than 200 different databases, most of which index and provide abstracts for articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals. A complete alphabetical listing of library databases is available at http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/basesalpha.html. A subject category listing of databases is available at http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/bases.html.
Not all databases are appropriate for graduate research. For example, databases like Research Library and Omnifile cover a variety of publication types that includes magazines, newspapers, and journals. While the two databases cover thousands of publications, a researcher with a specific need for key journals within a certain field will find these two databases and those like them inadequate for completing a comprehensive literature survey. A researcher covering topics in psychology, for example, will find articles from psychological journals in both Research Library and in Omnifile, but the most comprehensive coverage of the literature in psychology is through the research database PsycInfo. A quick comparison of results for Research Library and PsycInfo on the topic "attention deficit disorder" provides a good example of the difference in coverage. Research Library results in around 4400 journal articles, while PsycInfo results in over 9600. PsycInfo also provides coverage of book chapters, conference papers, and scholarly websites, and indexes research going as far back as 1806. When chapters and conference papers are included, results in PsycInfo account for nearly 13,000 items or three times the coverage of Research Library.
Types of Databases:
*Indexes/Abstracts -- Indexing and abstracting services cover a wide range of publications specific to certain disciplines, provide subject analysis and indexing for covered publications, and provide brief synopses of the indexed articles. Medline, for example, covers thousands of medical publications worldwide and provides subject analysis and abstracts for each of the articles. CINAHL, for example, covers thousands of nursing and allied health journals and provides indexing and abstracting for covered journals. These databases typically do not, themselves, provide direct access to the full articles. A researcher will do well in covering the pertinent literature but will still need to locate the articles that have been indexed.
*Full Text -- The library subscribes to numerous full text databases. Typically, these systems provide subject indexing, abstracts, and the full articles, often in both web and PDF formats. So-called aggregating databases buy full content from a variety of sources including academic publishers and individual publications. While aggregators pull from a wide variety of sources and make numerous publications available in one place, there may be coverage gaps depending on the availability of licensing from the publishers. Publishers databases will provide full text articles of all their journal titles or a portion of their journal titles. Libraries typically have the option to subscribe to individual titles or the entire publisher collection. Examples of publisher collections include Science Direct, Oxford Journals Online, and SpringerLink. The library's access to journals from these publishers is not complete. While the library will have access to information about all the articles published in these systems, it will only have full articles from those journals titles to which it subscribes.
ArticleLinker -- UNF Library subscribes to a linking system that helps tie together search results in all 200 databases to help researchers link from non-full text databases to full text of articles in any subscribed database. A researcher doing a search of PsycInfo, for example, will find a wealth of information on published articles in psychology but none of the full articles in the database itself. The ArticleLinker icon will appear in the database for each of the articles located and will then provide the researcher with full text links when full text is available in any of the library's databases. If no full text is available, ArticleLinker provides the researcher with a direct search of the library's catalog to determine if the journal is subscribed to in print. If the article is not available online or in print, ArticleLinker provides a link to the interlibrary loan system so that a researcher can initiate a request for a copy of the article. As a further assist to researchers, ArticleLinker also enables looking up further information about the journal in the Ulrichs Periodicals Directory. This online directory provides publishing information on the journal, including whether it is scholarly and/or refereed.
The UNF Library subscribes to the Institute for Scientific Information's (ISI) Web of Knowledge system. Accessible databases include Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, ISI Highly Cited, and Current Contents. The two citation indexes provide researchers with the means for following a research trail through thousands of research publications by using a key author as a cited reference in other authors' bibliographies. To develop this extensive cross-referencing of academic and scientific literature, ISI indexes articles and their bibliographies from more than 9300 scholarly journals. The UNF Library has access to articles in the database from 1991 to date. Further information about the Web of Knowledge is available online.
Citation searching in the arts and humanities is available through the Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Also created by ISI, the library's access to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index is through the FirstSearch system of databases. Arts and Humanities indexes more than 1100 sources and currently has citations for nearly 3,000,000 items from 1980 to date.
ArticleLinker works with the citation indexes just as it does with the other research databases to help researchers link to full text or locate copies of referenced materials.
Keeping Track of and Referencing Sources: RefWorks
Doing literature reviews is an integral part of doing graduate research. RefWorks is an online documentation system that makes keeping track of large amounts of information much easier. The library subscribes to RefWorks for UNF researchers. Each researcher simply needs to set up a RefWorks account to have password protected access to materials discovered during the literature review process.
RefWorks operates well with most of the library's databases, but not all. In general, the process of getting items from the databases into RefWorks falls into two techniques: direct export from the database to RefWorks or import of a text file from the database into RefWorks. With the direct export method, the researcher reviews items in the database and checks those that are appropriate. Once a selection of items is made, the researcher chooses an export option in the database to start the transfer process. Importing items begins the same way, but the researcher must first bring up a text file of the database information, log into RefWorks, and then use the RefWorks import filter for the database in order to bring the items in. A check list of export and import methods for library databases is available at http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/refworksimporttable.pdf.
RefWorks enables researchers to collect and save information from many research databases and consolidate that information into user created folders. It saves all available information from the database, including the article or item description (author, title, journal information), the article abstract, and any other descriptive information available in the database. RefWorks also provides its users with the ability to add notes to each of the items, to correct information that might not have exported correctly from the originating database, and to search for duplicate references and eliminate them. Once the literature survey is completed and the references are stored in RefWorks, the researcher can use RefWorks to automatically generate a bibliography in any of nearly 800 different styles, including APA, AMA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, and hundreds of individual journal styles.
RefWorks also includes a downloadable tool called Write-N-Cite which plugs into Microsoft Word. Write-N-Cite allows a researcher to plug in references on the fly as the paper writing process is underway. At any point in the process, the researcher can save the paper, use Write-N-Cite to format it, and Write-N-Cite will take care of parenthetical references and automatically build the bibliography at the end of the paper.
More information about RefWorks is available at http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/refworksinfo.html.
Research Guides and General References
Library staff maintain a wide variety of guides to assist researchers in finding information. On the library's home page, guides are listed according to their usefulness for faculty and for students. Graduate students might also find some of the faculty guides useful. For a complete list of the library's guides for its researchers, link to http://www.unf.edu/library/guides/libgids.html.
The library maintains a print Reference Collection that includes specialized dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias that cover most areas of research. The quick way to discover what reference materials are held by the library is to do an Advanced Search in the library's catalog and limit the search by Location to the Reference Collection.
In addition to print resources, the library also has subscriptions to specialized encyclopedias through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Other standard references that are subscribed to online are listed from the library's subject database listing under the categories Dictionaries and Encyclopedias and Directories.
Library Department Information