Brief
Guide to Library Collections and Services
| By: |
Linda Hildebrand
Assistant Professor &
Coordinator of University Archives
|
Phone: (248)
370-2483
E-mail: hildebra@oakland.edu |
Ask A Librarian
Feel free to call, email, chat, or stop by the reference desk if you have questions. |
Annual Reports
The library has corporate annual reports for most publicly owned companies (including the Fortune 500)
in microfiche format for 1978-97. These are kept in the
Reference area on the 2nd floor. Since most companies now
post copies of their annual reports on their web sites, the library does not maintain a print collection.
Books
Circulating books are found on the 3rd floor of KL. Reference
books are located on the 2nd floor and do not circulate.
Catalog
The library has an online catalog system that may
be used to find the books, journals, videos and DVDs OU owns.
The Library Catalog can be searched by author, title, journal title, call
number, subject or keyword.
Change
A bill changer is located on the 2nd floor, opposite
the Circulation Desk. Change may also be available at the
Circulation Desk.
Circulation Department
To check out a book, take it along with your OU ID (Spirit
card) to the Circulation Desk on the 2nd floor of KL. Circulation
privileges are extended to currently enrolled students and
to faculty and staff. Books may be renewed if they don’t
have any holds on them. Overdue fines are $.25 per day for
books, documents, LPs and cassettes, $1.00 per hour for 2-hour
reserves, and $1.00 per day for CDs and all other reserve
materials.
College Catalogs
A complete collection of Oakland University catalogs is kept
on Reserve at the Circulation Desk. Most colleges now post
their catalogs on their websites.
Computers
Kresge Library offers a variety of public use terminals. On the main level, called the Learning Commons, the North Wing offers IBM compatible and Macintosh
workstations with a variety of software packages and printing
capabilities. The Research area in the south wing houses more than 50 PC workstations, all connected to print stations. In addition, the 3rd and 4th levels each have a few workstations and 30 laptops are also available for use within the
library. They may be checked out at the Circulation Desk with an OU Spirit card. In addition, the library is a wireless environment. For more information, see the Systems Office website.
Copying
Photocopiers are located on all floors. They accept only
Spirit Cards with SpiritCa$h and the cost is 10 cents a page.
Guest Spirit copy cards are available for non-OU patrons--for
details, ask at the Circulation Desk.
Disability Support Services
There are adaptive computer stations and other assistive technology available for students with
disabilities. The Circulation or Technology staff, or assistants provided
by the Disability Support Services Office, will help users
with the equipment provided as well as with paging books,
photocopying materials and other library services. For more detailed information, please see our Accessibility web page.
Government Documents
The print Federal Documents collection is located on the 1st floor (Room 154), north
wing. Documents in microfiche format are housed with the rest of the microform collection on the lower level in Room 143 . Reference assistance is available at the Reference Desk.
OU receives about 40% of the U.S. federal publications. We
also receive some Michigan government documents. They are housed with the Federal Documents on the lower level in Room 154. Most of these
items are listed in the Library Catalog and may be checked out just like
books. In addition, the Government Documents Center web site provides access to many governmental sites that provide online
information.
Indexes and Abstracts
Online periodical indexing/abstracting services may be used
to find articles in magazines, journals, newspapers. Access
is available via the library home page--click on Find Articles.
Many of these databases also provide full text of articles
indexed. Or try our new Library OneSearch (available on the library home page) that simultaneously searches many databases.
Infopass
If you need to use certain other area academic libraries,
the librarian at the Reference Desk can give you a pass, which
will grant you limited circulation privileges at these libraries. See also, entry under Michicard.
Interlibrary Loan
If OU doesn’t have the book or journal article you
need, we can try to get it for you from another library. It
usually takes about 2 weeks for books to arrive and less than
a week for journal articles. Request electronically using the Interlibrary
Loan system, ILLiad. The first time you use ILLiad, you
will need to register. You may also request books from other area libraries using MeLCat, a web-based, statewide union catalog and resource sharing system. Since many of the participating libraries are located in southeast Michigan, this may be a faster option than ILLiad.
Journals (also known variously as Periodicals, Magazines,
Serials)
Print journals are located on the 4th floor of the
library, arranged by call number. Bound volumes are located
in the stack areas; current issues (unbound) are found in
the Current Journals area in the center east section of the 4th floor.
To determine if OU has a particular title and its call number,
check in the Library Catalog using a “Journal Title” search.
Many journals are now available electronically. You will find links to these from the Library Catalog records, or use the Find Articles page to search the alphabetical list of online journals or to select an index or database by subject.
Library Instruction
KL librarians teach classes on how to use the library in
cooperation with other professors’ classes. For information,
ask at the Research Help Desk.
Michicard
Oakland students, faculty, and staff may check out material from Michicard participating libraries. (Once on the Michicard site, select "Michicard" from the Select a Category drop box.) Simply stop by the Circulation Desk at Kresge Library and ask that a Michicard sticker be added to your Grizzly ID card. You then wiill be able to check out materials from these other libraries; however, you will need to return the items back to those libraries as well.
Microforms
The library’s microfilm, microfiche and microcard collections,
as well as the readers and reader/ printers, are located on the lower level in Room 143. Most of these items are listed
in the Library Catalog.
Missing Books
If a book or journal is not on the shelf, look in the reshelving/sorting
alcoves on the 3rd and 4th floors, near the elevators. If
the item still cannot be found, fill out a missing book form
at the Circulation Desk. The Circulation staff will look for
the item and notify you if they find it.
Music/Performing Arts Materials
Most music, dance and theater materials are integrated into the Kresge
Library collections. Records and scores are located on the
third floor while compact disks and cassette tapes may be
requested from the Circulation Desk. The library has facilities
for listening to sound recordings and for viewing AV materials.
These services are also coordinated by the Circulation Department.
Printing from Public Computer Workstations
Patrons may print materials from the public terminals at
a cost of 10 cents per page using a Spirit Card with SpiritCa$h.
Guest Spirit copy cards are available for non-OU patrons.
The copy cards may be used both at printers (Print Release
Stations) and copy machines. For instructions, please ask
at one of the service desks.
Reference/Research Help
The library’s Research Help Desk is staffed by librarians
who will be happy to help you find information, material for
a paper, or if you have a question of any sort. Desk hours vary from term to term. Research help is also available
via telephone (248-370-4426), e-mail (ref@oakland.edu) and instant messaging.
Research Consultations
The library offers the opportunity for a one-on-one consultation
with a reference librarian on any topic. If you need more
help with a question than can be provided at the Reference
Desk, you may fill out a request for a research consultation online or
at the Research Help Desk.
Reserves
Required readings, answer keys, tests, etc., placed on reserve
by professors for their classes’ use are kept at the
Circulation Desk. Circulation of these items may be restricted.
A library catalog Course Reserve search may be used to determine
what items have been placed on reserve. Also, some reserve items are available electronically. Access these via the Course Reserves link from the Library home page.
Special Collections/Archives
Special Collections, located on the 1st floor of the library,
contains rare books and special collections such as the Hicks
Collection of Books by and about Women, the Anglo-Irish Literature
Collection and the Springer Collection of Lincolniana. These
items are listed in the Library Catalog. Archives includes official records
chronicling the history of the university, OU master’s
theses and doctoral dissertations
and copies of official university publications. While use of these
collections is by appointment only, some materials have been made available electronically on the Archives web page. Appointment request forms to use the print collections
are available online or contact the staff using the information provided on the Archives page.
Study Rooms
KL has a number of small rooms on each floor of the library
for group study. Except for some of the larger rooms, which
may be reserved at the Circulation Desk, study rooms are available
on a first-come, first-served basis.
Telephone Books
The library has a collection of Michigan telephone books
shelved near the public phones on the 2nd floor. Also see links to online directory information on the Virtual Reference Collection page
Typewriters
The library has one typewriter available for
patron use. For more information, ask at the Circ. Desk.