New Star Software Collection/NSS_Collection.iso/3-251 oo2 english program/1.ima/RR.ZIP/PHOWTOFI.SEQ

Text File | 1991-06-30 | 5.8 KB | 128 lines

CALL NUMBERS

Each book in the KFUPM library has an identification number so
that it can be easily located. This number, known as a call
number, is actually formed from both letters and numbers, and it
is written somewhere on the book, usually on its spine. Let us
take as an example a book by Daniel Halacy called Fabulous
Fireball: The Story of Solar Energy. The call number of the book
is TJ 8 10 H32

These letters and numbers form a code which librarians use to
classify and identify the book. The first line (TJ) designates
the broad subject or class of the book (mechanical engineering).
The number (810) on the second line represents the subject in
greater detail (solar energy), and the third line (H32)
designates the author, whose family name begins with the letter
"H." The full list of book classifications is in the library.
You will use the call numbers primarily to locate books on the
shelves.

The KFUPM library did not invent these numbers. They are local
adaptations of the class numbers that are assigned to documents
by the U.S. Library of Congress. You will find a broad outline
of the U.S. Library of Congress Classification System on page 38.

For this reading passage, some questions will be included on the
right side of each page. Try to answer them as you go.

THE CARD CATALOG

To find a book on the shelves, you must first know the book's
call number. There are two principal ways of finding this
number: you can use either the card catalog or the computer
catalog.

The vast majority of the world's libraries use card catalogs to
help users search for books and other materials. In these
catalogs, essential information about each book is kept on cards
in small drawers arranged in cabinets. To conduct a search, the
user must choose some point of access. There are three points of
access: the title of the book, its author's name, or its
subject. Thus, for each book in the library, at least three
separate cards are usually kept in the card catalog. (If the
book is classified under more than one subject heading, there
will be more than three cards.) As the cards are arranged
alphabetically, searching for a single book is quite easy when
the point of access is the title or the author. When the search
is made through the subject, it is often very difficult to
choose a suitable search term.

THE COMPUTER CATALOG

To make searching faster and easier, many libraries nowadays are
replacing their traditional card catalogs with computer
catalogs. The U.S. Library of Congress (the world's largest
library) was one of the first to take this step, and others have
followed its example and accepted its standards. Computer
catalogs offer a much higher level of service than was
previously possible. Not only do they make searching much faster
and easier, but they also offer more information than is
available in a card catalog. Thus, most library computers allow
you to determine whether or not a book is checked out, and they
provide information about periodicals that could otherwise be
accessed only through paper indexes.

The KFUPM library's own computer catalog (sometimes referred to
as the on-line catalog or the DOBIS-LIBIS system) has been in
operation since 1985. It contains cataloguing records for all
materials in the Main library and the divisional libraries
around the campus.

In most cases, your primary objective in using this catalog will
be to get a book's call number, which will help you find it on
the shelves. Your first step towards getting this call number is
to choose an access point which is best suited to your search.
For example, if you are looking for a special book and you know
the author's name but not the title, then you should search
through the author file. Use the title file if you know the
title but not the author's name. If you know neither, or you are
simply trying to locate any book about a particular subject,
then use the subject file.

As soon as you seat yourself at a terminal, press the enter key,
which will take you to the file selection screen and then the
index selection screen, shown below. Read these screens
carefully and answer the questions on the page to the right.

The book, Fabulous Fireball: The Story of Solar Energy, by
Daniel Halacy, has three major access points made up of the
following boldface words.

Author: Halacy, Daniel

Title:     Fabulous Fireball: The Story of

Solar Energy

Subject: SOLAR ENERGY

For a search by the author's name, type the number 1 below the
instruction line, press enter, then wait for the system to
display the input screen. The input screen will ask you to enter
a search term. You should type the author's family name followed
by a comma, a space and at least the first letter of his first
name: Halacy, Daniel

The system will then display that part of the author file which
lists all authors with the name Halacy. Figure 5B shows a
printout of the screen you will see.

On the screen, Daniel Halacy's name appears on two separate
lines (line 1 and 2), as it is indexed in two forms. At the far
right end of lines 1 and 2 you will see the number of documents
indexed under each of the two versions of the name. To make sure
you see all of the documents, select both options (1 and 2). You
will then be shown a short information screen for each. As it
happens, Fabulous Fireball is listed under the author's full
name, so here is the screen you will see when you select option 2:

From this point, you may request full information for any of the
books listed on the short information screen by typing the line
number to the left of the line.

When you visit the library, take this book with you. You will
find that actually using the computer is much easier than
reading about how to use it. Keep the book near you and refer to
this unit when you have problems with finding a book.