A BRIEF GUIDE TO SERVICES AND RESOURCES

Library materials may be checked out from the circulation desk with a library card. The circulation desk will issue you a free library card if you do not have one. Students and community members are urged to take advantage of the library's collection and reference sources.  As a community service, the Houff Library is open to the public free of charge.  Most library materials circulate for four weeks (see below for exceptions) for students and faculty. 

CIRCULATION PERIODS
Books..............................Four weeks
Magazines and Journals....Seven days.
Course Reserves..............Circulation period determined by the instructor.
ILL Materials....................Due dates set by lending library.
Books and Magazines may be checked out over breaks (Spring, Christmas)

RENEWALS
Books-one time renewal
Course Reserves-Item may be renewed if there are no holds
Calculators-four week renewal
Magazines & Journals-No renewals
Interlibrary loan books-Renewals determined by the lender. See Donna Alexander in the Library Office

BLOCKS
You will be blocked for any library item that is 30 days overdue.  This will prevent you from checking out anything else from the Library, registering for classes, receiving your grades, transcripts, etc.  To have your block released, return your overdue item(s) and inform the library staff when you do so.  If you have lost the library item(s) that are overdue, please ask any library staff member for instructions.

HOLDS
All holds, including course reserves, will expire within five full working days of being contacted that the item is available.

RESERVES
Some instructors have items on Reserve at the Circulation Desk they want you to read in addition to your textbooks.  Each instructor determines the loan periods for their Reserve items.  Some Reserve titles can be checked out, some can only be used in the Library.  Ask for Reserve titles at the Circulation Desk.

Workshops on accessing the library's extensive collection of online databases are offered each semester.  The times and locations will be posted around campus, on the main library page and on our Frequently Asked Questions page. 

Demonstrations are available for classes with the instructor present and participating.  We kindly request instructors give the Library a week's notice, as there is preparatory work that must be accomplished first.  The best environment is in a computer lab where students can practice using our online resources first-hand.  There are computer labs at our Harrisonburg and Augusta-AMC (Fishersville) campuses where library instruction can be given during the day.  Off-campus demos can be given, too, but we ascertain first if there are any firewalls which would prohibit accessing our databases.  For daytime demos, please contact the day librarian (ext. 2309).  For demos after 5pm, please contact our evening librarian (ext. 2247).  We can fine-tune our general demo to meet your classes' specific subject needs, so just let us know.

We also offer our online tutorial to those classes who are unable to schedule a library demo.

Individual instruction is always available - just ask a library staff member.

BRCC students are able to use James Madison University’s Carrier Library.  Simply bring a BRCC ID card (available free from Mary Kier Smith, Student Activities Director, in Houff 108) or a photo ID to JMU Library’s Circulation Desk.  You will not be given a library card, but you will be put in their computer system as a BRCC student.  You may then check out up to six books at a time for three weeks and can renew them once.  Their fines are $.25 a day.  Here’s a link to their circulation services page, which information such as, library hours, map of Carrier Library and directions to their library and available parking.

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Books or journal articles not owned by Houff Library can be borrowed or obtained from other libraries. Interlibrary loan (ILL) forms are available at the circulation desk. Allow at least two days for the receipt of articles and one week for books and other ILL materials.  Use our Question?  E-Mail a Librarian online form to let us know which title(s) you would like for us to obtain for you through interlibrary loan.

The library subscribes to many online periodical indexes such as InfoTrac, SIRS, and Factiva, which contain the full-text of many journals and magazines. All of these databases can be accessed from the library’s Home Page.  Check with the library staff for the availability of articles through the online periodical collection.

For a complete listing of software in the Library and elsewhere on campus, click here.
 

Library material, including all print and non-print, is selected in a manner consistent with the overall mission and goals of the instruction program of Blue Ridge Community College and to uphold the Library Bill of Rights.  The selection policy adheres to the following:  Priority for material to be purchased by the Library is given to materials which meet the curricular needs of the students in the courses offered, including class assignments, research, collateral reading, and bibliographic tools which facilitate using and locating material in the Library.

To ensure the quality and comprehensiveness of the total collection, the Library assumes responsibility for coordinating the collection and for providing bibliographic aid to faculty and staff.  Faculty members are encouraged to recommend materials for purchase.   Faculty are contacted several times a year via e-mail for their recommendations.  On a regular basis individual departments come and look at their collections in the library and give recommendations for selection and weeding.

Materials for purchase are considered on the basis of:

1. overall purpose and direct relationship to instructional objectives.
2. timeliness and factual accuracy of material.
3. faculty review and recommendation.
4. non-availability in current collection.
5. quality of the writing/production.
6. demand and potential use.
7. critiques appearing in general selection tools.
8. inclusion in indexes available at the college and in standard lists and bibliographies.
9. cost commensurate with quality and potential benefit.
10. budget availability.

• badly bound or printed books
• likelihood of the volumes being used in the future
• outdated information
• incorrect information
• poorly written information
• old editions when improved editions exist
• dated software
• most technical books are outdated in ten years
• superfluous or duplicate volumes
• deteriorating materials