Library Services for Students

Electronic Resources

Public access to the Internet, to Microsoft Office software, and to the electronic resources reviewed below is provided in the library by means of twenty computer terminals in the lobby.  Printouts may be made for a fee.

Use of Library Computers
Anyone wishing to use a library computer can do so by entering the appropriate code from the label posted on the bottom left corner of each monitor.  The Guidelines for Use of Library Computers and the college's Computer Resources, Internet, and Network Use Policy (http://www.isothermal.edu/library/guidelines.htm) appear on the succeeding screen, and users must click "I Agree" to proceed.  The computers are set to a 60-minute use limit; however, at the end of the time limit, your computer time is renewed automatically unless a large percentage of the computers are in use at that time, or if you have already been on the same computer for at least three hours.  In that case, the computer will log you out automatically to allow other patrons computer access.  (A very rare occurrence.) A warning message will appear as the end of a session approaches. Computers automatically turn themselves off five minutes before the library’s closing times.

To print, follow the usual print procedure, then the special instructions that appear on a small screen.  A print job is sent to a computer at the Circulation desk, where it waits to be printed at your request.  To retrieve a print job, come to the circulation desk and tell the library staff how you identified the print job, and it will be printed out for you in return for a fee.  The charge for a black and white page is $.05; color pages are $.25 each. 
 
Microsoft Office Software

The library provides Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and Front Page) for use on library computers.  Users of these programs are expected to have some experience in their operation, as the library staff can offer only minimal assistance. Those who intend to use Microsoft Office programs are advised to bring a storage device on which to save their work.  (See "IMPORTANT" note above.)

Library Website and Links to Electronic Resources

In addition to our our online catalog, the college library website (http://www.isothermal.edu/library/) contains excellent resources for research and assistance for students performing research, evaluating information sources, writing papers, and documenting resources.  The library webpage can be accessed from the Isothermal home page, which is set as the browser home page on many campus terminals; by adding "/library" to the end of the college website's URL (Internet address); or by clicking on the Library link in the "Quick Links" box at the top of the screen on the college's home page and scrolling down to "Library."  When using computers in the library lobby, various electronic resources can be accessed by clicking the appropriate link on the menu, or by using the URLs listed here.  (For use of databases off-campus, see the blue box below.)

NC LIVE   (http://www.nclive.org)

The resources included in NC LIVE (North Carolina Libraries for Virtual Education) are made available online to North Carolina public and academic libraries by the state of North Carolina. These resources include "content and indexing from more than 50,000 newspapers, journals, magazines, encyclopedias, e-books, e-audio, and streaming video titles" useful for research. EBSCOhost databases allow access to a vast number of articles on all kinds of topics from magazines and peer-reviewed journals. NetLibrary and other databases provide access to a large number of e-books and e-audio books.
(Source: “Overview.” n.d. NClive.org. 3 Aug 2009. < http://nclive.org/about.phtml >.)

NC LIVE is available from library computers, from any campus Internet-connected computer, and off campus via remote access password. (See "Off-Campus Database Use" below.)  The EZ Search function on the NC LIVE home page will take you to a list of the multiple databases which contain information on your search term; but you must search each of the databases one at a time.  Or you can choose to explore resources organized under broad subject areas and categories (e-books, newspapers, magazine and journal articles, etc.) from those listed on the home page.

Alternatively, click the Browse Resources tab and select from databases organized by:

• Categories  (databases sorted by broad subject and format)
  

• Alphabetic  (an alphabetical list of all databases with short descriptions)

• Vendor  (databases accessed by vendor name, such as EBSCOhost)

A recommended way to research many topics is to choose several databases in EBSCOhost and search them simultaneously.