Using the Library

The library offers a number of tools for faculty members to make use of. On this page and subsequent page tabs are boxes describing some of our most common ways to assist faculty members, and in some cases links to the sections of the guide where we discuss how to have the library work with you on that.

Finding Materials

So how do you find what resources the library has?

The library's website can be accessed multiple ways. If you log onto MyIvy, you can click on the library tab and the Library website should open in a pop-up. If you have pop-ups blocked you may need to click on the link.

Our website can also be accessed directly in IvyLearn. Click on the Library tab in the upper right and it will take you to the main page. On the left select your region, in this case Lake County and you'll be at our page.

The Search and Find section offers links to all our resources, broken down into groups by type of material and by subject. Our Help section contains research tips and citation guides, while the Ask-A-Librarian section is for students to send in research questions.

On the library website, check the lower right hand corner for links to the faculty services section or look in this guide.

Checking Out Materials

Faculty are able to check out any items in our collection as well as our video collection.  In order to do so, you will need a photo ID, which can be your Ivy Tech ID card or a state issued ID (Driver's license or state ID). 

Please note: Due to the way that faculty information is added to the system, if you are a new faculty member and have not used the library before, we may need to make a patron record for you. This is an almost painless process that takes approximately five minutes and involves little to no blood loss.

Faculty:

• DVDs/Videos: can be checked out for classroom use for one (1) day and up to 1 week as needed. They can be renewed if needed. 
• Books: may be checked out for two (2) weeks and there is a limit of 5 items at a time. Items can be renewed if needed. 
• Journals:  may be checked out for one (1) week, excluding the current issue. 

Placing Materials on Reserve

Faculty members can place items in the library on reserve for their students if they want the material on hand.
Reserve items can be used in the library but not taken out, which ensures all students have access.

To place a Library owned item on Reserve:

• Contact the library staff to let them know the item that is to be placed on Reserve.
• Please provide the course information for which it is to be reserved and held for.  
• Items can be placed on Reserve for a specific time frame or for an entire semester.

Please Note: For commonly used materials that other instructors make use of in class, semester-long reserves may not be possible.

To place Instructor provided materials on Reserve:
Materials provided by the instructor can also be placed on Reserve in the library. 

• Bring the material you want to have on reserve to the library,
• Please provide us with course information and we will make it readily available to students.\

This allows you to make your preferred resources open for students for when you might be out of your office or otherwise unavailable.

These items are kept under supervision, and like normal reserve items are to be solely used in the library.

Faculty Requests for Library Materials

Perhaps you need a DVD that we don't have, or want a specific book to be in the library for your students. If we do not have it there are a few methods that we can take in order to fulfill that need.

• If notified ahead of time, we can attempt to order the item so that we will have it in our collection.
• Let us know as much information(author, ISBN, etc) about the material as you can, and we'll make the order.
• If there is something on there you don't know (such as where to order it), don't worry. As long as we have the basic information, we will try to find it. 
• Please contact the librarian listed on the this Libguide's website for the Northwest campus you are at, and email them with your request.

After you have provided us with the information, the Library Director or Library campus staff will first check to see if we have similar materials in the collection to bring to your attention.  

If not, then the  Library Director/campus librarian will search various sources to find materials to purchase while looking for currency, desirable length and quality.  

Materials are then ordered, received and cataloged locally,  and then sent to the campus library for final processing. 

Interlibrary Loan Information

If a book or periodical (article) is not available through our library, we will try to get the material for you from another library. There is no charge for interlibrary loan for Ivy Tech students, faculty or staff (in most cases--but you will be notified beforehand if a fee is required). The Library reserves the right to limit the number of items patrons may request (and we cannot honor requests for textbooks).

Books

First, check IvyCat to see if the book you want is owned by another Ivy Tech campus library (we can get them faster, and you may even find some ebooks that will meet your need).  If the book is available at an Ivy Tech library we can make a request for the item to be sent. Videorecordings are loaned on a limited basis and may not be able to be sent via ILL. 

If the book you want is not owned by an Ivy Tech library, we can still usually get it, though it may take a little longer (about 2 weeks). Contact the library and we can look to see if the book is available for a request. The more information you have on hand the quicker we can find and request the book.

Articles 

If you need an article that is not available in one of our online subscription periodical databases (ask for help if needed, to determine this), contact the library to see if we can acquire the article for you.

Remember:

1. You can usually only borrow one, or at the most two, items at a time; exceptions are made for articles. 
2. If you are in the library and need help with any part of this process, please ask a library staff person for help.
3. When requests arrive, books are usually checked out for 4 weeks--pick them up promptly, and please have them back in time! (Articles are usually photocopies and do not need to be returned.)

Additional Considerations

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to request materials from any Lake County library and other libraries around the state and country via interlibrary loan. Instructions and forms are available online (linked under Services). Please ask library staff members for assistance.

Do be aware that every lending library has its own specific policies regarding ILL; most print materials are loaned, but A-V materials (i.e. videocassettes) are usually not available. Additionally, a lending library may charge a fee to loan certain items, but that is a rare occurrence and borrowers always have the option of paying the fee or canceling the loan before it is processed.

An exception to audiovisual interlibrary loan is made within the Lake County libraries itself. Requests for videos and other resources between the three campuses can usually be honored within a matter of days.

Apart from borrowing from within our own region, please bear in mind that items borrowed through interlibrary loan may take anywhere from one to three weeks to obtain, so it's best to plan ahead.  Also, we must reserve the right to limit the number of items that students or faculty may request at one time.

Lending Agreements

In addition to our normal inter-library loan policies, we are a member of the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI). This allows us to create borrower's cards which allow the holder to check out materials at the other ALI member libraries. If you are interested in utilizing this service, come to the library and talk to the librarian or the library staff about receiving one of these cards. 

Special note should be given to the public institutions: These universities allow any Indiana resident to check out items with a valid state ID or driver's license. Thus you do not need an ALI borrower's card for IU Northwest or Purdue Calumet, for instance.

Borrower's cards do not allow access to online resources. If you want access to online resources, it is best to ask the library staff at the corresponding library to  learn the policy regarding access. 

Library Instruction

In addition to providing resources for your class, the library can help your students learn how to research by having a librarian come to your class and go over research skills and resources. These instructional sessions are a tool to offer course and assignment specific research instruction for students. These demonstrations might take place in the library or in your classroom depending upon scheduling and your preference.

 Please go to the Lake County Library's website, and on the right side scroll down to: Library Instruction Form, click on that and request an instruction session for the campus location needed.

You may also contact your campus' librarian directly by email or by calling to set up an Instruction session for your class. 

Requirements and Preferences

When requesting a Library Instruction session: 

• Your presence is requested. We prefer that instructors remain with their classes during library sessions. Students are more involved and the learning experience is enhanced when instructors are available for questions and clarifications.

• One week’s notice is a general requirement.  Because of limited space and computer availability in the library, we can provide better service with advanced notice.  Also, the library staff needs time to prepare for instructional sessions.

• Library instruction is more meaningful for students when it is relevant to their current course assignments.  Please make sure students have a clear understanding of their course assignments before attending library instruction sessions. Ideally, library instruction should be scheduled close to the time students begin working on their research-related assignments.

• If you can, provide library staff with your written instructions for specific course assignments. This helps us prepare for library instruction and allows us to meet the specific information needs of your students. We also appreciate any specific information about assignments your students are working on, your expectations, special needs, or particular resources you would like us to include.

Library Assignments

If you want to get students involved in doing research, assignments are the way to go. We've put together some helpful hints in designing library assignments to make full use of library resources and student time.

1. Consult with a librarian before you give the assignment. We can work with you to ensure that we have the resources on hand for the assignment and offer suggestions
    
2. Notify the library. Sending us a copy of the assignment allows us to be aware of it and offer help to students if they have trouble, as well as to make sure items are on hand and ready. If a single book will be required for multiple parts of the assignment we can make sure it is on reserve so a student doesn't check it out and prevent others from using it.
    
3.  Be clear on the differences between internet resources and library databases. Please clarify that a database or electronic journal to which the Library subscribes is not the same as searching the World Wide Web, as many students are afraid to use our electronic collections when they have been told not to use "the internet." If your assignment calls for it, you may also wish to distinguish between the large amount of fairly authoritative government information online and other less reliable sources.
    
4. Assume minimal library knowledge. Although many students may be familiar with using some library tools, few really understand the details of research such as how to locate items in our library using databases and call numbers. Many do not know how to use subject headings or keyword searches. Some students are not comfortable using computers, while those who are used to computer use may lack the skills to critically evaluate information online.
    
5. Show your students that they can also refer to IvyTilt which is an online tutorial containing seven (7) interactive modules to help them with the research process. It is a great learning and assessment tool. These modules can also be easily embedded into your IvyLearn course or simply accessed through the Library's website. 

Research Assignment Suggestions

If you're having some trouble thinking of the right research assignment to use with your students, here is a small collection of examples. You can also contact the library staff for more ideas and suggestions of research assignments for your classes. 

• Search for a recent scholarly journal article on a given topic. Compare the article content to that of the textbook.
   
• Compare scholarly and popular resources on a topic. Find a reference to a study from a newspaper or popular magazine, such as Time, Psychology Today, Life, etc. (keeping in mind, and reassuring students that these may be found in online subscription databases). Then have students find the actual study in a scholarly journal and write several paragraphs comparing the popular sources with the original research.
   
• Working in groups or alone, examine a small number of items such as books, articles, or websites. Establish indicators of quality, where these indicators are found, and the appropriate use for each item examined. Report findings to the class.
   
• Compare the reference lists of two published articles on the same topic. Evaluate the choice of materials cited by the authors. What clues do the citations indicate about the article?
   
• Students adopt a persona and write letters or journal entries that person might have written. The level of research required to complete the assignment can range from minimal to a depth appropriate for advanced classes.

Copyright in the Classroom

Copyright can be a confusing issue in many cases. Is it alright to show a video in class? What about uploading it onto Blackboard? The library can offer some assistance in dealing with intellectual property law.

Note: Librarians are not lawyers. Our suggestions are guidelines based on our understanding of current permissions. If you need detailed or official legal advice, please seek a lawyer.

With that warning out of the way, the library can offer guidelines on what constitutes fair use in the classroom for using material or putting it online. If there is an issue with needing to get rights, we can offer some assistance in what may need to be done or who to contact to get the permissions needed.

Citing Sources

Note that MLA and APA have both undergone an update as of Summer 2009, to their 7th and 6th editions respectively. Most online resources have changed to these new models, and there are some notable differences in style. The library has copies of both the new MLA and APA guides in book form available if you wish to look through them.

In the Help section of the Library website, we have short guides for citing works for students. They are available in PDF format so that you can print off a copy of the guides. Currently we have the MLA guide updated to the 7th edition, the APA guide is updated to the 6th edition version. We also have samples of papers to help guide students with formatting their research papers in the proper manner. 

Ivy Tech also subscribes to a service called NoodleTools, an online citation generator and manager. Students can use this to generate citations by filling out forms which ask for the relevant information in a source. It also allows faculty to create a class, this feature has students join after which the instructor can see their citation lists and offer comments. If you're interesting in making use of this feature, feel free to contact the library for help.

Guidelines on Fair Use

There's no definite rules on fair use, but there are some guidelines that can help when making a decision. Indiana University's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL), provides a site called "Copyright and Fair Use: Borrowed Media for Instruction" and a link to a guide about Fair Use. The checklist was developed by Dr. Kenneth Crews, J.D., director of Columbia University's Libraries/ Information Services Copyright Advisory Office. He was the former director of the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis' Copyright Management Center. 

This guide can help you decide if the materials that you are using in your courses fall under fair use.

IU's CITL -  Fair Use Checklist  - This is not an exhaustive guide, but can help familarize you with Fair Use. 

Columbia University also has an excellent copyright website. It is an excellent guide for copyright basics. Check out the Fair Use section! They also provide a checklist which can help you judge if your use of material would be considered fair use or not. You can download and print this checklist for your own use as an example to follow. 

We also have a section of the Library website, under Help and citing sources, that collects copyright links for students and faculty. It's got useful links to help explain to students what copyright is, as well as guides for faculty.

Second Thoughts

Some common practices you may want to double-check as regards "fair use":

• Showing a video as a "reward" to a class, if it is not relevant to the course material, is not fair use
• Using music to spice up a presentation, if it is not relevant to the course material, would not be fair use
• If you use a student paper from a previous course as an example to other students, get permission to do so from the student author.
• Avoid reusing the same material for a course. While fair use initially, get permission to use the material if you plan to keep using it.