Hancock Spring 2010 All sections

Thank you for attending the library sessions over the last two weeks. Here are my responses to the questions you still had about the library at the end of our sessions.

Where are the movies?
We have a small collection of videos/dvd's that you can check out. They are located against the south wall of the lower level of the library (very close to the LL7 classroom where we met). Just bring the case up to the circulation desk if you see something you want to check out.

What do you do if you get lost in the library? Can you call someone to come get you?
It's pretty hard to get lost in the main part of the library--it's really just a big rectangle. Lewis Annex is a different matter and can be confusing. Remember to use the elevator to navigate between the different floors and that you need to be on the fourth floor of Lewis Annex to get back to the main part of Pius Library. You can always call the Reference Desk at 977-3103
for help. Also you might want to look at the online tour of the library at
http://libraries.slu.edu/help/tour/welcome.html

There were several questions about choosing a database. Here is some advice.
Look at the databases by subject lists. http://libraries.slu.edu/databases/databases.php
You can also click on the little blue question mark next to the name of the database for a detailed description. You can ask at the reference desk (email, chat phone or in person) for recommendations. Some of you wondered why we had so many databases. SLU is a big university with graduate and undergraduate programs in many different disciplines so our library subscriptions need to support all of those students and faculty. In reality you will probably only need to use a few databases for most of your research.

Where are the librarians located?
The reference librarians are scattered in offices in different parts of the library. We all work at the reference desk in the iCommons for 5-10 hours a week. The best way to contact the liaison librarian for your department is to email or call the librarian. Here is the contact information for all of the reference librarians. http://libraries.slu.edu/about/directory/libnsnew.html. We also have business cards for all of the reference librarians at the reference desk.

Can a librarian help us personally with our search?
Of course! You can ask for help at the reference desk or set up an appointment. Also, please feel free to contact me for help if you have more questions. My email is gillesj@slu.edu and phone is 977-3592. The reference librarians at SLU work with hundreds of students individually over the course of the year.

How do I find an article if it is not online?
If we don't have an article online, search for the journal title (not the title of the article) in the library catalog. Check to see if we have the volume (year) you need. If we do and the location is Pius Library then use the location guide and the call number of the journal to find the journal. If the location is LSLF then follow the instructions to request a copy of the article. The LSLF is a remote location which houses some of our less frequently used materials. Your article will be scanned and delivered within 24 hours.

If we don't have the article online or in print then you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The first time you use the ILL system you have to create your own account and password. The link to ILL is on the large red menu on the left side of the library home page.

How do I access full text of the article?
If the article is "embedded" in the database you will see a link that says PDF full text or HTML full text (or similar wording depending on the database). If not, click on the "Find it at SLU" button which will take you to the Article Linker page. If we have the full text, click on the "article" link on the Article Linker page.

How can I find pictures?
Here is a web site which lists various sources for images http://libraries.slu.edu/qrefsour/qrefimge.html. The Academic Search database also has images. Click on "more" in the blue menu bar on the top of the main search page then select images and run your search. Finally as you may know, you can search Google or Flickr for images.

Good luck with your research!