In almost every coursework you take while studying in a university, you will be required to submit some academic papers that may involve researching for various types of library resources. Knowing what it means by book collection, GIS, or periodicals can help you save time in locating the materials you want.
To better prepare you for the academic demands of higher education in the U.S., these activities are designed to expose you to authentic experience through video clips showing a newly-admitted international student asking a staff at the Information Desk regarding various types of library resources she found on her search list.
Sequence: Click on each box to explore the activities in the order as shown.
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Books collection is the library's primary collection that houses printed materials available for general use. These books, including other circulating books at most college and university libraries across the U.S., are organized according to the call number system known as the Library of Congress Classification.
To learn about the system that Cal State L.A. library uses to organize their Books
collection, visit the
Understanding Call Numbers page.
Print out the
Call
Numbers worksheet and complete it using the information provided in
Step 1. When complete,
click here for
the answer keys.
Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to access this page.
View the following video clip. Find out how to locate the library resources in Books
collection.
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Video Clip |
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Incorporate the information learned from Steps 1 - 3 to complete this
fill-in-the-gap activity.
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GIS stands for Government Information Services. GIS collection at Cal State L.A. library provides publications in various formats from the United States government to the California State government. GIS collection covers various fields of subjects; such as, politics, business, law, education, citizenship and immigration, federal grants and fellowships, etc. Usually, hundreds of new documents are added to the collections every week.
To learn more about GIS,
read the article from the
GIS Overview page and ask yourself what kinds of GIS publications that would
be useful to you: educational reports?, consumer-related topics?, or about
federal grants and fellowships?
View the following video clip. Find out where you can find the GIS collection at this particular library.
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Video Clip |
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Incorporate the
information learned from Step 1 and Step 2
to complete this
multiple-choice
activity.
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Most U.S. university libraries maintain their complete set of all Masters theses written by students who received the degrees from the institutions in their Theses collection.
At Cal State
L.A. library, Theses
collection is organized using its own theses
call numbers. Visit the
Thesis Call Numbers page for more information on this specific
classification.
View the following video clip. Find out where you can locate the Theses collection at this particular
library.
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Video Clip |
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Incorporate the
information learned from Step 1 and Step 2 to complete this
fill-in-the-gap activity.
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Periodicals collection at Cal State L.A. library are organized using Periodicals Index, which is available in both a print format and online databases. Both index formats are searchable by subject, author, title, or publication's title. In addition, periodicals materials at most libraries are broadly organized as current and older issues. The current issues are usually shelved on magazine-type racks while older issues would be bound into volumes.
Visit the
Locating periodicals titles and holdings page to learn how to
read the
call numbers of periodicals materials.
View the following video clip. While viewing, pay attention to types of
periodicals available at the library including general rules regarding the use
of
periodicals materials.
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Video Clip |
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Incorporate the
information learned in Step 1 and Step 2 to complete this
fill-in-the-gap activity.
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Electronic books or 'e-Books' are part of the library electronic collection, which also includes periodicals, magazines and newspaper titles. e-Books can be searched from the library databases similar to searching for other types of materials. Have you read any electronic books before? If so, how do you like it? What do you think are its benefits and/or drawbacks?
View the following video clip. Find out how you can search for e-Books materials
from Cal State L.A.
library databases.
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Video Clip |
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Use the information learned from Step 1
to search for e-Books from the
Advanced Search page of Cal State L.A. library Web site. Once the page
opens, select 'e-Books' from the 'Format' drop-down arrow to limit
your search to e-Books only.
Incorporate the information learned from Step 1 and Step 2 to complete this
multiple-choice activity.
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Not only that the library provides books, periodicals, or electronic format of materials, there are other types of useful resources that everyone can take advantage from; such as, Atlas collection, Juvenile collection for children, Music & Media collection, including Special collection which carries rare, expensive, and/or unusual Library materials.
View the following video clip. Find out about the other types of resources that
Cal State L.A. library also provides.
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Video Clip |
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Check out other types of resources that Cal
State L.A. library provides from the
Advanced Search page. Once the page opens, click the 'Format'
drop-down arrow for more options.
Incorporate the information learned from Step 1 and Step 2
to complete this
matching activity.
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Let's
move on to the
Final Checklist |
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Don't forget! If needed, you may replay the video clip
again and again and again and again... before checking out the answer clues! |
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