Los Angeles Valley College Library 5800 Fulton Ave. Valley Glen, California, 91401-4096 Phone: 818-947-2425 Fax: 818-947-2751

Library Services to the Faculty:

Hours:

Monday – Thursday     8 A.M. –  8:45 P.M.;  8 A.M. - 8:45 P.M.

Friday                          8 A.M. – 3:30 P.M.

Saturday                      10 A.M. – 4 P.M. (subject to change); closed: Winter Intersession and Summer

Hours are subject to change, check the Library for the current semester’s hours. The Library is not open on school or legal holidays, nor on weekends that include holidays.

Borrowing Books:

Faculty may check out books by obtaining a library card, available at the circulation desk.  Books circulate for two months, but are due at the end of each semester. They may be renewed.  Faulty are not subject to fines, but are held responsible for lost materials and must keep their records current.

Reserve Books:

As the Library does not buy textbooks, instructors are encouraged to put their own extra copies of the texts they are using on reserve.  To put a book on reserve, simply bring it to a librarian.  (If you are requesting the Library buy a book, you must order it the semester before you wish to use it to allow for processing time.)  Books will be kept on reserve until you take them off.  Other materials such as photocopies, past tests, and journal issues may also be placed on reserve.

Ordering/Discarding Books:

Recommendations for specific titles may be made to the acquisitions librarian by filling out an order card; just ask one of the librarians for one.  We encourage faculty members to review the collection in their discipline for possible discarding (weeding) of dated or obsolete materials.  Additionally, professional development credit is given for “review and assessment of library holdings in your discipline.”

Interlibrary Loan (ILL):

Books from other libraries may be obtained through ILL.  Be aware that this is a time consuming process, taking anywhere from 2-6 weeks and libraries limit ILL loans to two weeks.  Ill requests may be made through the ILL librarian.  Faculty are responsible for any fees charged by the lending library.

Orientation Tours:

Orientations and tours are offered throughout the semester.  Call (ext.2766) to make an appointment for your class.  They must be scheduled two weeks in advance.  They can be tailored to specific assignments or topics.  Instructors must accompany their class.

Library Instruction:

Please give one of the librarians copies of library assignments, reading lists, etc.  This helps us to know what the students are looking for and anticipate any problems.  Also, we would be happy to meet with you to help design library assignments; just call to make an appointment. 

Academic Integrity: What is it and how to avoid plagiarism

The University of California at Davis, Office of Student Judicial Affairs has an extremely informative site that discusses
it in depth. 

Library Assignments:

A well-designed course-related library assignment is an effective way to introduce students to research. It relates to some aspect of course subject material or learning objectives leading to an increased understanding of a subject or the process of locating information related to a subject. A library assignment that meets these criteria is an excellent teaching tool and builds research skills. The guidelines are meant to ensure students of a positive library experience and reinforce library use as a means of learning.

However, if you would like your students to use the library, but don’t want to assign a research paper there are alternatives.

Library Science 101, 102:

In order for your students to take advantage of all the Library’s resources and to help them develop critical thinking skills, please encourage your students to enroll in these courses.

InfoTrac:

InfoTrac is the online periodical and newspaper index.  Over 12,000 scholarly and popular titles are included, many available in full text. Five national newspapers are included.  You can search topics by typing a subject into the computer and citations can be printed.  You can access the InfoTrac system from any computer on campus.  There is a link from the Library’s homepage (http://www.lavc.cc.ca.us/Library/library.html) or you can reach it directly at http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/lavc_main/.

Online Catalog:

Library materials can be searched though the online catalog by author, title, subject, or keyword.  It is available on the Internet at the Library’s homepage:  http://www.lavc.cc.ca.us/Library/library.html.

Staff:

Our staff includes four professional librarians: 

updated 09/2010