GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE LIBRARY
To foster such an environment, Library users are asked to comply with the rules of conduct listed below.
• Obscene and/or abusive language or gestures.
• Creating a public disturbance.
• Harassing or threatening behaviour.
• Sexual acts.
• Display, use or possession of weapons.
• Smoking, eating or drinking.
• Use of alcohol or illegal substances.
• Sleeping or loitering.
• Soliciting on Library premises.
• Use of bicycles, skates, skateboards, or similar items.
• Animals, other than those assisting persons with disabilities.
• Mutilating, damaging or defacing any Library materials including tampering with or changing configurations or software on Library computers or displacing, disabling or unplugging Library equipment.
• Engaging in any activity that is a violation of criminal or civil codes of law.
• The Library is not responsible for personal items that are lost, stolen or damaged on Library premises.
• Patrons may be asked not to enter the Library with large bundles, parcels, bags, suitcases, carts or other wheeled conveyances.
• All books, bags, briefcases and other containers belonging to persons entering or leaving the Library may be subject to inspection by Library security officers or Personnel.
• Proper attire is required. Library users must wear shirts and shoes and are expected to maintain acceptable levels of personal hygiene.
• Permission to photocopy is dependent upon physical condition of items, donor restrictions and copyright laws.
• Parents or guardians are advised that the Library is not responsible for children who are left unattended on Library premises.
• Library staff and security officers may at any time request users to show their Library cards or other appropriate documents for purposes of identification.
• Failure to comply with one or more of the Library’s regulations may result in suspension of Library privileges or in arrest and prosecution to the full extent of the law.
• Most Important Keep Quiet at All Times!
What is a Library?
A library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. It can mean the collection itself, the building or room that houses such a collection, or both.
In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information needs. Libraries often provide a place of silence for studying.
Today's libraries are repositories and access points for print, audio, and visual materials in numerous formats,including maps, prints, documents, microform(microfilm/microfiche), CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, video games, e-books, audiobooks and many other electronic resources.
Libraries often provide public facilities to access to their electronic resources and the Internet.
Modern libraries are increasingly being redefined as places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources.
History
The first libraries were composed for the most part, of published records, a particular type of library called archives. Archaeological findings from the ancient city-states of Sumer have revealed temple rooms full of clay tablets in cuneiform script.
These archives were made up almost completely of the records of commercial transactions or inventories, with only a few documents devoted to theological matters, historical records or legends. Things were much the same in the government and temple records on papyrus of Ancient Egypt.
The earliest discovered private archives were kept at Ugarit; besides correspondence and inventories, texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching new scribes. There is also evidence of libraries at Nippur about 1900 B.C. and those at Nineveh about 700 B.C. showing a library classification system. Another early organization system was in effect at Alexandria.
Over 30,000 clay tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal have been discovered at Nineveh providing archaeologists with an amazing wealth of Mesopotamian literary, religious and administrative work. Among the findings were the Enuma Elish, also known as the Epic of Creation.
Types
Libraries can be divided into categories by several methods: By the entity (institution, municipality, or corporate body) that supports or perpetuates them: academic libraries, corporate libraries, government libraries, national libraries, historical society libraries, private libraries, public libraries,
By the type of documents or materials they hold: data libraries, digital libraries, map libraries, or collections picture (photograph) libraries, tool libraries. By the users they serve: military libraries, community libraries, handicap library, prisons etc.
By the subject matter of documents they hold architecture libraries: fine arts libraries, law libraries, medical libraries, aquatic science libraries, theological libraries.
Organization
Libraries have materials arranged in a specified order according to a library classification system, so that items may be located quickly and collections may be browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where reference materials are stored.
These reference stacks may be open to selected members of the public. Others require patrons to submit a "stack request,“ which is a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the closed Stacks.
Larger libraries are often broken down into departments staffed by both paraprofessionals and professional librarians. Circulation (or Access Services) - Handles user accounts and the loaning/returning and shelving of materials.
Collection Development - Orders materials and maintains materials budgets. Reference - Staffs a reference desk answering user questions (using structured reference interviews), instructing users, and developing library programming.
Reference may be further broken down by user groups or materials; common collections are children's literature, young adult literature, and genealogy materials.
Technical Services - Works behind the scenes cataloging and processing new materials and de-accessioning weeded materials.
Stacks Maintenance - Re-shelves materials that have been returned to the library after patron use and shelves materials that have been processed by Technical Services.
Stacks Maintenance also shelf reads the material in the stacks to ensure that it is in the Correct library classification order.
Dewey Decimal System
A typical library contains thousands of books. Without some system of organization, we'd never be able to locate any of the books that we need. Classification systems are designed to provide a clear way to find books in specific sections of the library.
Most public libraries use the Dewey Decimal System, which was introduced by Melvil Dewey in 1873. When you become familiar with this system, you'll be able to find books easily in most any public or grade school library.
Note: Colleges use a different system, called the Library of Congress Classification System. At the very base of the Dewey Decimal system is a set of ten categories or classes. Each broad class has been assigned a number section. The number classes are:
000 - Encyclopedias, journals, news, and general collections
100 - Philosophy, psychology, paranormal
200 - Religion, churches
300 - Social sciences, law, etiquette, customs
400 - Languages from around the world
500 - Math and science
600 - Applied Sciences, medicine,
engineering, farming, manufacturing
700 - Architecture, art, photography, music
800 - Literature
900 - History, geography
Within each of these main classes, book topics are divided into smaller sub-topics with numbers that fall within the class. For example, the history & geography class would contain:
910 - Travel
920 - Biography
930 - Ancient world
You'll see that your library books have long, complex codes on the back. The first part of this code is the classification number. Below you'll find a list of many topics you might cover in your school research.
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