LIBRARY SERVICES

ONLINE PUBLIC ACCESS CATALOG
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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
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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
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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 two weeks. 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 five 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
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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
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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.

Ongoing library orientation is also part of the purpose of the pages in the weekly college newsletter The Messenger. 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 TUTORIAL
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LIBRARY COLLECTION
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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, filmstrips, and audio tape sets, 35-mm films, slides and prints. 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 325 periodicals subscriptions.

On the second floor is the General Collection, consisting of approximately 92,000 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. Some leisure reading books that belong to the library but are not part of the General Collection are also available on an informal sign-out basis.

GENERAL BOOK COLLECTION
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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
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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
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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 Librarian (Paul Robards). 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: http://www.usg.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
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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
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PERIODICAL INDEXES
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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 webpage, 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 webpage for further information) Users wishing assistance with paper or electronic periodical indexes may ask any library staff member.

OTHER SERVICES

PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS
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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:
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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.

THE MESSENGER:
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The Messenger, a weekly college newsletter, includes two pages of library services including GALILEO and other announcements, acquisitions, mini-reviews, and highlights of specific Internet/Websites.

PHOTOCOPYING:
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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
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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. Special activities groups reservation will have to go thru the Vice President of Academic Affairs' office for approval by filling out a facilities use form.

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. Some of the other study rooms are also available with typewriters.

MULTIPURPOSE CLASSROOM:
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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.

DISPLAYS AND EXHIBITS:
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From time to time the Library will mount displays that consists of books and other items owned by the library or loaned to it. Often the displays will be seasonal in nature, reflecting a particular holiday, or the displays might commemorate a specific historical event or complement a current campus activity. Interested persons having suggestions for future displays should contact the Assistant Librarian for Public Services.

TELEPHONES/TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES:
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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.

We now have an extensive collection of Georgia telephone directories available. Please ask at the front desk.

COLLEGE CATALOGS:
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The library maintains a national collection of college catalogs on microfiche. These are available in the microforms room located on the second floor. In the Reference Room is kept a small collection of paper catalogs, mainly from Georgia colleges. Also available in the Reference Room are a number of directories and guides to colleges and other schools.

NEW BOOK DISPLAY:
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In order that as many users as possible may be aware of the new items continually acquired by the library, we display many of those items on a New Book Shelf just beside the front door. The books on this shelf are also listed by author, title and call number in the library pages of the Messenger ( the weekly campus newsletter). These books are available for borrowing under the normal Circulation Policy.

LEISURE READING COLLECTION:
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On the second floor of the library is a special shelf devoted to "leisure reading". The books on this shelf are those that would not normally be cataloged in an academic library collection but which users might enjoy reading in their spare time. In the leisure reading collection one will find books of romance and adventure, or books of an inspirational or self-help nature. The leisure collection books are available to our users on a very liberal borrowing policy-- that is, keep them until you are done. These books are signed out in a special notebook that we keep at the Circulation Desk.

SUGGESTION BOX:
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A suggestion box is placed on the main floor. Users are invited to contribute suggestions or comments intended to improve the library's materials and services. If users wish a personal reply, they may sign their suggestions with their names and addresses.

MULTIMEDIA COLLECTION & SERVICES
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The Library holds an extensive collection of AV/Media materials, including films, videos, filmstrips, 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:
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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:
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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
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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.

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