Introduction to Library Resources

 

Today in class we were introduced to the Penn State library website and different databases that are available to us, the students.  One database that is of extreme importance is The CAT which is the Penn State Library catalog.  When using The CAT database if the search is too specific not many sources will pop up.   For instance, in class when we searched freshman weight gain not many things came up, but then when we searched college weight gain many more sources came up.  When using The CAT, the sources that come up aren’t always books so sometimes you can just view them from your computer in your dorm.  Other times they are books or dvds and The CAT searches all Penn State campus libraries so if the book or dvd is at another campus you can simply click the “I want it” link and it can be sent to the Pattee Service Commons Desk. We also learned about interlibrary loans and reserves, two things that are will be very beneficial when we have to write papers and research things that will require us to use a variety of sources.  I really like that with interlibrary loans if the materials are not available in any Penn State libraries you could request it be sent from another library if you have enough time for it to be shipped.  Even though the Penn State library has a very large selection of materials, and it would probably be rare that I personally would need to use this resource, it is still nice to know that it’s there.  Being able to reserve materials is also handy.  Many professors reserve materials that they know students might need for their course.  If you need something that on reserve you could borrow it for a half hour to a couple hours, but getting books on reserves gets harder around finals because everyone wants to use the books on reserve to study.