Library Services
Online Public Access Catalog
On December 14, 1992, the library's card catalog
became available online--that is, it can be accessed
at networked computer workstations located
throughout the Library. Online capability makes
possible enhanced access to the Library's holdings. No
longer are users limited to guessing exact subject
headings, titles, or author's names; rather the key
word searching made possible by online access
enables users to locate materials with increased
speed and accuracy. Also, users may access the
catalogs of other libraries in the University System of
Georgia, and wider Internet access makes it further
possible to consult hundreds of library catalogs world
wide. Handouts of detailed instructions on how to
use the online catalog are available, and library
faculty and staff are always happy to provide assistance.
Records (or catalog entries) retrieved from the online
catalog may be printed out by the screen or downloaded to
WordPerfect to be edited into bibliographies. Users may
ask for assistance to accomplish these functions.
Card Catalog
The card catalog will be maintained for an indefinite
period of time. Library faculty and staff, however, will
encourage card catalog users to try the online catalog
because of the much enhanced speed and accuracy
that it offers.
Circulation of Materials
All materials, books and non-books, are available to
all users for use in the library. However, certain
restrictions apply to circulation of materials outside
the library. General collection materials may be
checked out for one month. Renewal of these items
is based on the demand for the item. Students, faculty
and staff must have a valid MGC card in order to
check out material. Local users must have filled out
a town patron card to do so. The overdue fine on
books is ten cents per day. A higher fine is charged
for periodicals and reserve materials. Please inquire
at the circulation desk for circulation policies for
specific materials. The Library Organization and
Service Manual, which details information about the
library is available at the circulation desk.
University System Of Georgia Joint
Borrowers Card
The University System of Georgia offers eligible
students and employees a Joint Borrower's Card
that allows a user affiliated with one System
institution to borrow from other institution's libraries.
Persons wishing to be issued a Joint Borrowers Card
should speak with the Director of the Library.
LIBRARY ORIENTATION AND BIBLIOGRAPHIC
INSTRUCTION
(This service will be maintained until GIL EXPRESS goes live)
Library orientation consists of an overview of the
library's materials and services and a brief tour of the
facility. Library orientation is routinely provided for
all new students of Middle Georgia College and for
new faculty members. Other individuals or groups
wishing orientation may make an appointment with the
Director or the Assistant Librarian for Public Service.
Those pages feature much news of
acquisitions and new services, and on using the
electronic resources that are available to remote
users of the library.
Bibliographic instruction consists of detailed lessons
about general research methods and explanations of
specific resources, both print and non-print. The
instruction is provided by a professional librarian on the
Library faculty. It is a normal part of all English 101 and
102 classes and a number of other courses. The instruction
can be tailored to meet the needs and requirements of
individual instructors. Normally an instruction session
will include a lecture supplemented by a detailed booklet
made available to each student that outlines basic
research strategy. A tour of the library that highlights
specific items individual classes will need is also included.
Great emphasis is given to familiarizing students with
methods of electronic data retrieval. The online catalog,
the GALILEO databases, and general Internet information
are all covered.
Following formal instruction sessions, one on one
assistance is available to those students who require
additional assistance in completing their assignments.
Faculty members or others wishing to arrange a
bibliographical instruction session may call the
Director or the Assistant Librarian of Public Services.
LIBRARY COLLECTION
The collection consists of both print and non-print
materials that are housed in various locations to how
they are most frequently used. Inclusion of items in the
basic core collection is based on the Library's
Collection Development Policy.
The Reference Collection, housed on the main floor,
contains items that most likely would be referred to
quickly in order to access general information, such as
general and specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries,
manuals, and directories. Also on the main floor is
the media collection, the Special Collection, and
current periodicals. The media collection contains
about 63,000 units of audio-visual material,
including videotapes, audio tape
sets,. The Special Collection, located in an attractive sitting room,
houses volumes and historic documents specifically
relevant to the history of the College, the town of
Cochran, Bleckley County, the state and the region
in general. In the current periodicals reading area
are located the most recent issues of newspapers,
magazines, and journals. The Library maintains
approximately 345 periodicals on active subscription and a
total of 750 periodicals. On the second floor is the General
Collection, consisting of approximately 108,000 volumes
arranged according to the Library of Congress
Classification subject classification scheme. Also on the
second floor are the bound periodicals and microforms, mainly
microfilm and microfiche. Nursing and Allied Health
journals are displayed and stored in a separate area.
GENERAL BOOK COLLECTION
The general book collection is housed on the second
floor of the library and consists of approximately
92,000 items. It is shelved according to the Library of
Congress subject classification scheme which is posted
prominently throughout the Library and is also printed on
the back page of the Library's information brochure. All
items in the general collection may be borrowed by eligible
users according to the policy laid out in the "Circulation
of Materials" section of the Library Handbook.
Assistance in locating general book collection items
is available at the desk on the second floor, and users
should not hesitate to ask for assistance. The Library
requests that users leave the books they have removed
from the shelves on any convient table rather than
attempting to return them to the shelves. Any books
that an eligible user wishes to check out should be
taken to the Circulation Desk on the first floor to
be processed.
RESERVE MATERIALS
Faculty members may place materials, either personal or
library owned on reserve for use by the students in their
classes. A faculty member placing an item on reserve
should specify the borrowing conditions--in library
use, 24 hour, etc. Faculty members teaching at the
Dublin Campus also may place library materials
on reserve.
Interlibrary Loan
Interlibrary loan is a service provided by the library to
students, faculty, and other users. If a patron wants an
item not owned by this library, it can be borrowed from
another library. Items are first borrowed from other libraries
within the University System of Georgia at no cost.
However, we do occasionally have to go outside the system
or the state to borrow rare material. These may require a small
fee which the user is responsible for. The user is notified if a fee
is involved.
Anyone needing to use these services should see the
Interlibrary Loan Officer (Linda Smith). A complete
citation is always helpful in the location of materials.
INTERLIBRARY LOAN IS GOVERNED BY U.S.
COPYRIGHT LAW (TITLE 17, U.S. CODE).
Regents Guide to Understanding Copyright
and Educational Fair Use is available at URL:
WWW.PeachNet.EDU/admin/legal/copyright
This document is the result of the work completed
by the University System Committee on Copyright.
The guide provides illustrative examples of Fair Use
and the legal background of copyright law. The
purpose of this guide is to provide faculty, employees,
and students of the University System of Georgia
with a basic understanding of copyright and fair use.
PERIODICALS
All current periodicals--that is, magazines, journals, and
newspapers are shelved on the first floor of the
library in the current periodicals reading area. Comfortable
seating is provided in this area to encourage users to
take advantage of the wealth of information available
in these up-to-date sources of information. When a
new issue of a periodical is received, the last issue
is removed to storage where it eventually will be bound
or microfilmed so that it will always be users for research.
The Library keeps back issues of almost all of the
periodicals to which it subscribes. They are located
on the second floor.
An exception to the above are nursing journals, the
current issues of which are prominently displayed
on an individual rack on the second floor.
Unbound periodicals may be checked out for overnight use.
COMPLETE LIST OF PERIODICAL HELD BY MGC
PERIODICAL INDEXES
The library has available a number of periodical indexes
that enable readers to find citations to specific articles
in magazines, journals and newspapers. Although the
indexes are in print and non-print form, the current
use is mainly through one of the many indexes available
online through the GALILEO system (Georgia Library
Learning Online). At the present time, well over 100
electronic databases are available in all fields of human
knowledge. The library still maintains its paper indexes
because, although many of them are duplicated in
GALILEO, a few--such as its paper index
"An index to the New York Times" that go
back to the 1850's--would not otherwise be available.
Users should realize that although they may find
an article citation in one of our indexes that does not
necessarily mean that the periodical is available in
this library. More and more often, however, GALILEO
databases may make available the article in an electronic
full-text format. Citations should be checked against
the library's periodical holdings lists, which are
available throughout the library and on the library's
web page, as well as in the databases that feature
some full-text. Articles that are not available through
either of these means often may be available through
Interlibrary Loan. (Please see the section on Interlibrary
loan in the handbook or the library's web page for
further information) Users wishing assistance with
paper or electronic periodical indexes may ask any
library staff member.
OTHER SERVICES
PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS:
All on-site users of the Library, including the
general public, have access to computer work
stations located in the public areas. Fair and
equitable access is a regulated sign-up procedure
that all users are asked to observe.
These workstations allow users to access this
library's catalogs, statewide catalogs, worldwide
catalogs, GALILEO databases, and the Internet.
Word processing software is also available on
these workstations.
INTERNET/E-MAIL:
Access to the Internet enables our students, faculty and
staff to communicate on and off campus through E-Mail.
It is also used for research and many other purposes
including accessing all world wide websites.
PHOTOCOPYING:
Two photo machines, one on each floor of the
Library, are available for public use. The price is ten cents
per page, and users are responsible for all copies made
unless the machine is at fault. Those not familiar with
the use of the machines should request assistance to
avoid making wasted copies.
CONFERENCE ROOMS AND STUDY ROOMS:
Located on the first floor of the Library are a number
of small rooms that can be used for conferences or group
study. Persons who wish to use a room for a conference or
meeting should reserve the room in advance by call or coming
by the Library.
Study rooms are available to students on a first come
first serve basis, and they should sign in and out of these
at the main desks on the first or second floors. Some of the
study rooms are equipped with a TV/VCR, and priority for
these rooms are given to small groups who must watch
a videotape as a part of a class assignment.
MULTIPURPOSE CLASSROOM:
The classroom is used for A.V. viewing by students,
bibliographic instruction sessions, and other campus
committee meetings. It can seat thirty people and is
available upon request, providing there is no library use
scheduled.
TELEPHONES/TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES:
The telephones in the library are intended for
official use only. Public telephones are located
outside the library at a convenient distance in
Russell Hall Lobby. The library staff will direct
users to those locations. In case of emergency,
the use of library telephones may be allowed.
CELL PHONES SHOULD BE SET TO VIBRATE
IN THE LIBRARY.
SUGGESTION BOX:
On the library homepage users can send e-mail directly to the
Library Director on any subject. This is completely anonymous.
MULTIMEDIA COLLECTION & SERVICES
The Library holds an extensive collection of AV/Media
materials, including videos, phonotape cassettes, LP recordings,
and the equipment on which to view or hear them. Currently,
videotapes are the most often requested, and so that portion of the
A.V. collection is growing rapidly. All of these materials
and equipment are available to any library user in the
library. College faculty may check out the A.V.
materials and/or equipment. Occasionally, for class
use, college students with the written permission
of a professor and the consent of the Library Director
may check out A.V. materials and /or equipment
for short specific periods of time. Please see the
section of the library handbook titled "Circulation
of Materials" for further details.
All A.V. materials are included in the library
catalog, also an inventory of equipment is
maintained at the Circulation Desk. Maintenance
and repair is conducted as needed.
The library also offers a number of production
services, such as audio and video recording
duplication, copy machines(both paper and microform)
lamination, transparencies and slides. Users requiring
these services should inquire at the Circulation Desk.
VERTICAL FILES:
Vertical files are housed behind the Circulation Desk
and consist of items designated both as "Georgia File"
and the more general "Vertical File". In these files are
"ephemeral" items that are deemed too perishable or
of less than substantial quality to be cataloged
in the general collection. Nevertheless, they may prove
very useful for some users' information needs. In the
Vertical File, one may find a great variety of ephemeral
items , such as newspaper clippings, brochures, or
public information booklets. Occasionally, new
vertical file information will be advertised in the library
pages of the Messenger, the weekly campus newsletter.
A notebook of vertical file topics is maintained
at the Circulation Desk. Users are encouraged to
inquire there if they believe that their topics of
interest may be covered in the Vertical File.
ATLAS AND MAPS:
State road maps are located in the Vertical File.
U.S. road atlas are located behind the Circulation
Desk. Other atlases are located on atlas stands in
the Reference area.
MICROFORMS
Because it is impossible that any library is able to keep
all of its material in "hard" (or paper) copy, it is
necessary that certain designated items be kept in
microforms. Most often in this library, that means
microfilm--although a small number of items are
preserved on microfiche or microcard. Most of these items
are periodicals--that is, magazines, journals, or newspapers.
They are designated as such in our periodicals holdings
with the abbreviation "MF". These items are stored on
the second floor in specially designed cases. Several
microform reader/printers are conveniently located
on the second floor. Coping cost for microforms is
.15 per page.