A Student’s Guide to Independent Use. PURPOSE The purpose of this tutorial is to help familiarize students with the organization of the libraries, and

A Student’s Guide to Independent Use

PURPOSE

The purpose of this tutorial is to help familiarize students with the organization of the libraries, and teach how to use the automated system in which to search for specific information within the libraries.

04/18/23 20:28 © 2008 Chandra Helms All Rights Reserved 2

Location of Libraries Ouachita School District has two

separate libraries:One is housed at the end of the main high

school building. It is closest to the entrance used for students arriving through the bus loading zone.○ Pictures of High School Library

One is housed in the elementary right across from the elementary office area.○ Pictures of Elementary Library


OUACHITA’S LIBRARY SOFTWARE

It is important to know that Ouachita School District uses Follett Circulation +/Catalog + for library organization and maintaining the collection.

Both libraries are cataloged under the same software program. To distinguish books in each library, an “E” is shown in front of the elementary library titles.


OUACHITA’S LIBRARY COMPUTER LOCATION DESIGNATIONS

Elementary books are given call numbers with an “E” in them.

EXAMPLE: EF RYL, EE HEN, EPB

High school books do not have an additional letter.

EXAMPLE: F RYL, F HEN, PB


Navigation of Student Tutorial

This tutorial is organized into three topics: OPAC, Dewey Decimal System, and Fiction.

To Navigate through a section, click on the arrow to the right of the topic on the Student Tutorial Contents Page.

When you finish a section, click on the home button to return to this page to select another topic.


Student Tutorial Contents:

OPEC Dewey Decimal Fiction Section


FICTION DEWEY

INDEPENDENT USE

OPAC

Tutorial Navigation Help:

Home Button will take you back to the Student Tutorial Contents Page.

Arrow Buttons will help you navigate through the three tutorial sections.

Question Mark will take you back to this screen.


What is OPAC?: OPAC stands for :

ONLINEPUBLICACCESSCATALOG

It assists people in finding any library material in our library. It can be a particular book, a particular author’s works, or a particular subject area.


OPACs are a faster version of the old card catalog.

Where is OPAC? What is OPAC? Getting Started:

Double click on the OPAC icon on desktop.○ It looks like books on a shelf.

There will be a gray screen with a text box and several buttons on it. The buttons are labeled:

Keyword Title SubjectSeries Call Number PowerBookbag Help Author


How do you use OPAC? Enter your search term in the text box

rectangle. The search term is what you are looking for in

the library. Next click on the button that describes your search term. Is it the author’s name? Title? Keyword? Subject?

The bottom portion of the screen shows the search results for our library.Double click on a title of interest to see more

information about it, its location, and whether it’s available.

Search Example


OPAC Index Buttons Keyword Button: After a keyword has been

entered into the text box, then a click on the keyword button will tell the computer to search for this word in all of the title records held in the libraries.

Title Button: After a title has been entered into the text box, then a click on the title button will tell the computer to search for a particular title in the libraries.


OPAC Index Buttons

Author Button: After a author’s last name is typed into the text box, then a click on this button will search the computer for all of the titles written by a particular author. **Be sure to take note of an author’s first name, because there could be multiple authors with the same last name.


OPAC Index Buttons Subject Button: Once a topical subject has

been typed in the text box, then a click on this button will search for MARC Records containing this subject in their subject line.What is a MARC record?

○ A MARC record is the specifics about a particular book. It lists the publisher, author, title, copyright date, book summary, reading level, related subjects, and many more specifics. Think of this as an extended bibliography about a book.


OPAC Index Buttons Series Button: If a particular book series is

typed into the text box, then a click on this button will list all titles that are available in the library written in the series.

Call Number Button: If the call number for a particular book is known and is typed into the text box, then a click on this button will take you to the information about this particular book.


OPAC Location Information

The information about the location of a book that you receive from OPAC is called the call number.

Call numbers are located on the spine of a book.

Call numbers are arranged:Alphabetically by authors last name for fiction

books.Digit by digit and first three letters of author’s

last name on nonfiction books.


Dewey Decimal System

The Dewey Decimal Classification System was named after the man who created it – Melvil Dewey.

Who is Melvil Dewey? The Dewey Decimal System is divided

into 10 sections. In libraries that use the Dewey System, it is used to organize the non-fiction section.


Dewey Decimal System Divisions

Range of Numbers Subject

000-099 Generalities

100-199 Philosophy/Psychology

200-299 Religion

300-399 Social Science

400-499 Language

500-599 Natural Science & Math

600-699 Technology (Applied Sciences)

700-799 Arts

800-899 Literature

900-999 Geography & History

92s Biographies


These are the major divisions of the subject areas.NOTE: Natural Sciences are things that humans haven’t altered. Applied Science are things that humans have altered.

Dewey Decimal System Subdivisions


Dewey Decimal System Book Organization


Now for a quiz on ordering Dewey Decimal books!**Remember books are shelved digit by digit!EXERCISE #1 QUIZ

Fiction Section The fiction section has two main

subdivisions in the elementary library:EE before the first three letters of an

author’s name designates a book as an easy picture book.

F before the first three letters of an author’s name designates a book as a general fiction book. Longer chapter books are located in this area.

There is not a separate fiction section in the high school library.


Paperbacks in the Fiction Section

High School:Paperbacks are shelved altogether by

author’s last name. These are located at the end of the hardback fiction section.

Elementary:Paperbacks are shelved separately from the

hardbacks according to their AR level.Paperbacks without an AR quiz are shelved

together near the encyclopedias.


Paperbacks Continued As the library grows, this section will

gradually become smaller. It is Ouachita School District’s goal to gradually acquire hardback titles that last longer with patron use.


OPAC


Pictures of High School Library


Pictures of Elementary Library


Documents

A Student’s Guide to Independent Use. PURPOSE The purpose of this tutorial is to help familiarize students with the organization of the libraries, and