Alaska Bible College Library 248 E. Elmwood Ave. Palmer, AK 99645 Library Handbook 2015-16 Revised August 13, 2015
WELCOME Work has been done to make the library an attractive and comfortable place for your studying, casual reading, and browsing. The library workers are ready to help you in locating materials and in providing information. MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Alaska Bible College Library is to provide information and services which meet the educational and research needs of the College students, faculty, and staff, as well as those in the surrounding community. The changing venues of information are to be embraced and implemented to keep the Library effectively meeting the needs of the College community and the extended community patrons. HISTORY The Captain Vincent J. Joy, Jr. Memorial Library Collection is now located at the campus in Palmer. This collection includes one large contribution of books from the personal collection of the late Rev. Vincent Joy, another large contribution of books from the student body of Dallas Theological Seminary, and items from other donors. Originally the Captain Vincent J. Joy, Jr. Memorial Library Collection was located on the Glennallen campus in a classroom on the lower level of Joy Hall, with a seating capacity for eight. The collection was moved to the upper level of Joy Hall on Nov. 13, 1973. New carpet and study carrels enhanced this larger facility, which had a seating capacity of twenty-four. The books were moved to the Glennallen campus Ball Memorial Library building in May of 1988. Steve Hostetter, who was the President of Alaska Bible College for nine years, renamed the library building in honor of Virgil and Annette Ball. In June of 2013, the Alaska Bible College Library books were moved to the college s campus in Palmer. There are now approximately 30,000 volumes in the collection. PATRONS The library is open to all college students, faculty, and staff and to community people. The children s library section is a special asset to the community as well as to the families of students. Community patrons must provide their contact information (phone number, home address, and email address) in order to be given a library account; this information is used in regard to items that may become overdue. LIBRARY HOURS The library hours will be posted at the entrance to the library. At the discretion of the Library Director, the library may be closed for special occasions such the Alaska Bible College (ABC) school vacations, Winter Retreat, Christmas Banquet, Graduation Banquet, and Graduation Program. Occasional extended library hours may be requested for special projects, such as extra study time the weekend before final exam week or during final exam week. Page 1 of 5
GENERAL REGULATIONS The atmosphere of the library depends upon the full cooperation of its users. Your help is appreciated. The library needs to be a quiet place for people to read and study. Conversations and group study will be done in other areas of the campus. Even the lounge at the library s entrance should be a quite place for study. Return checked-out books to the circulation desk. Books used in the library without being checked out need to be returned to the bin in the Reference Section. Please do not place books back on the shelves; only people working in the library should re-shelve books so that the books are returned to their exact location a book out of place might not be found by anyone for a long time. The borrower is required to make payment for lost, damaged, and overdue library materials. The library is not responsible for any of your lost or stolen items. SECTIONS OF THE LIBRARY Alaska Section: This section is located in the southeast corner of the Main Stacks room. Children s and Curriculum Room: This room houses the children s books and the curriculum materials for teaching all ages. Main Circulation Collection: This is located in the Main Stacks room (the largest room in the library). Reference Section: This section is at the south end of the Main Stacks Room. These books must remain in the Library, and, therefore, cannot be checked out. Reference books are marked with an R above the Dewey Decimal Number on the book s spine label. Audio-Visual Section: Audio cassette tapes, DVDs, CDs, and VHSs are located on the east wall of the Main Stacks Room. Oversize: Books too large for usual shelving are located in the Oversize Section on the south wall of the Main Stacks Room. Periodicals: Hard copies: These are located in the lounge as you enter the library. Online copies: The library subscribes to the Galaxie Theological Journal Database which has full-text copies of articles in a large number of journals including Bibliotheca Sacra, Westminster Theological Journal, Trinity Journal, The Master s Seminary Journal, and the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. Alaska Bible College students can access the Galaxie Theological Journal Database by logging on at the ABC website and clicking on Library, then Links, and then Galaxie Theological Journal Database. Other library patrons may ask for a library worker for help accessing the Galaxie Theological Journal Database through the computers in the Main Stacks Room. Page 2 of 5
Copier and Printer: A printer is located in the Main Stacks Room. A printer-copier is located at the Circulation Desk. Glennallen Extension Library: The ABC Library has an extension library on the ABC Glennallen campus. Students at the Glennallen campus may contact the Main Library (library@akbible.edu) for instructions in how to use books located at the Glennallen Extension Library. CIRCULATION Books, periodicals, media, and all other materials are checked out and returned at the Circulation Desk. Items may be renewed (if not requested by someone else) by at the Circulation Desk. All materials are subject to recall at any time if an instructor requests them to be placed on Reserve for use a course. Signing out materials: Take the resources you wish to check out to the Circulation Desk, and the library worker will assist you; however, students at ABC s extension campuses and students in ABC s distance education programs should see Distance Ed Services under Library under Academics on the ABC website. Regular Circulation Books: There is a three week limit for these books. Audio-Visual Materials: These resources may be checked out for 1 week. Periodicals: The current issues (standing up on the magazine rack) may not be checked out. Back issues (lying flat under the current issues or filed on the book shelves) may be checked out for 1 week. Curriculum Materials: Curriculum material may be signed out for three weeks, and, with special arrangements, possibly longer. Reference Books: These books cannot be checked out. Reserve Books: These books can be received at the Circulation Desk and checked out for short periods of time. Reserve books can be checked out for use in the library for two hours. Also, Reserve books can be checked out from closing time at the end of the day until 8:50 a.m. the next day. Be sure to return Reserve books on time so that others can use the books for their course work. There is a 50 cents per hour late fine for all Reserve materials that are not returned on time. Other materials: Some materials (such as some CDs, audio cassettes, flannel graph materials, and puppets) have a special manner of being checked out. See a library worker to check out these items. Limited take out : There is a limit of 6 books, 4 periodicals, and 4 audio-visual items that may be signed out at one time. This policy promotes availability of materials for use by all students for class assignments. Overdue Fines: Normally the late fine for return of any item is 25 cents per day. One exception is that the fine for late Reserve books is 50 cents per hour. Page 3 of 5
FINDING RESOURCES IN OUR LIBRARY We have most of the library items entered into our online database. The rest are still entered in only the Card Catalog drawers. You may need to find resources using both of the following methods. Looking up library resources online: You can access the library s online catalog through the Alaska Bible College website www.akbible.edu. Click on Academics, then on Library, and then on Online Catalog. Feel free to ask a library worker to help you use the online catalog. Using the Card Catalog: There are three types of cards (author, title, subject) arranged alphabetically. Locating a particular item will often involve searching the catalog under one or more of these categories. (Rule of thumb: if one does not reveal the resource you are looking for, try another.) A call number is located in the upper left-hand corner of the catalog card. This same number/letter combination is also found on the spine of the book. The call number indicates the classification of the book by subject, as well as its location on the shelves. The following information may be found on a catalog card. Though not all of the information below is found on every single card, the basic information will always be on the card. o call number (and shelf location) o author o author s birth and death dates o title of book (or material) o subtitle which gives added information about content o place of publication o name of publisher o date of publication o number of pages in book o other physical description of book (illustrations, maps, charts, series) o subjects and added entries Examples: 1. Author card 231.8 Lew Lewis, Clive Staples, 1898-1963 The problem of pain, a realistic rewarding insight into the problem of human suffering. N. Y., Macmillan, 1962. 160 pg. 1. Pain 2. Healing I. Title Page 4 of 5
2. Title card 231.8 Lew The problem of pain Lewis, Clive Staples, 1898-1963 The problem of pain; a realistic 3. Subject card 231.8 Lew PAIN Lewis, Clive Staples, 1898-1963 The problem of pain, a realistic... Other letters (and their meanings) that may appear with a call number include the following: o R- Reference o A- Alaska o Juv- Junenile o Fic- Fiction & 800 section o Curri Lib- Curriculum Library o Oversize- Books too large for normal shelves. SOURCES BEYOND OUR LIBRARY Public Library: The Palmer Public Library is across Elmwood Avenue from the ABC Palmer campus main building. Databases: A number of online databases that can be used to find resources and research materials are available, including the following: Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) has information on a wide variety of topics and is located at http://sled.alaska.edu/. EBSCOhost which has many databases is located at http://search.ebscohost.com/. LET US HELP YOU Feel free to ask a library worker if you have any questions regarding the library. We are always happy to assist you. Page 5 of 5