Boston College Fact Book 1996 - 1997
The Quest Computer system of the Boston College Libraries provides access
to over 1.6 million volumes including books, media materials, microforms,
newspapers and periodicals. Quest may be searched by author, title, call
number, subject or key word from workstations in the libraries or by dialing
in to the system from other locations either on or off campus; also, a separate
file (NEWT) offers access to books recently added to the library collections.
This is also searchable by author, title, subject, and call number. Also,
major periodical indexes in the humanities, social sciences, law, and the
sciences may be searched through Quest.
State of the art CD-ROM networks in the O'Neill Library and the Law Library
give patrons immediate on-site access to many databases in the fields of
education, psychology, business, the social sciences, nursing and medicine,
law, and public affairs. Dial-in access to the networks is available from
other campus libraries and faculty offices. Additional CD-ROM databases
are available on individual workstations in O'Neill Library and other campus
libraries. New databases are added regularly and patrons should check with
the Reference Department for a list of current titles. The FirstSearch service
is also available through Quest. It gives access to the OCLC bibliographic
files, containing over 30 million records.
In addition to the search capabilities noted above, the Libraries offer
patrons and researchers access to several hundred on-line databases that
may be used for the retrieval of bibliographic information, text, and statistical
information. To use these databases, a researcher may plan a search strategy
with a reference librarian and have the librarian perform the search, or
the researcher may choose from among a smaller number of on-line services,
such as Dow Jones or BRS/After Dark, and, after training, perform the search
himself or herself for a lesser fee. The Law School Library has on-line
access to LEXIS and WESTLAW as well as other databases. Access to some of
these files may be limited by contract to members of the Law School community.
The Libraries also facilitate access to many computerized databases in
business, economics, and the social sciences on magnetic tape. Contact the
Reference Department for more information, and to arrange for demonstrations,
workshops, or presentations to classes or departments.
The Interlibrary Loan Service is offered to students, faculty, administrators,
and staff to facilitate obtaining materials not available in the Boston
College Libraries. Books, photocopies of journal articles, microfilm, theses,
and government documents may be borrowed from other libraries. Except for
unusual items, the waiting period is from one to four weeks; for anyone
willing to use the material at the holding library, a computerized system
at the reference desk will provide locations. Request forms and further
information are available from the Interlibrary Loan staff in each library.
Requests can be made using VAXmail (type ILL at the $) or by using the Library
form on Microsoft Mail, or by using electronic forms available on the Libraries
web site.
The library is a member of the Boston Library Consortium, a group of
area libraries which includes Brandeis, Boston University, Brown University,
Tufts, Wellesley, Northeastern, MIT, Massachusetts State Library, Boston
Public Library, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, and the
University of Massachusetts System. Faculty and graduate students may apply
for a Consortium borrower's card at the Reference Department in the O'Neill
Library. Further information may be found in the User Guide and the Consortium
Handbook, available in all libraries. A gateway to the BLC on-line catalogs
and the BLC InfoSource is available at the O'Neill Reference Desk and may
also be accessed from other locations on or off campus.
Boston College is one of 1,400 Federal Depository Libraries located throughout
the United States. This status entitles the O'Neill Library to receive,
on a selective basis, United States government publications at no cost with
the stipulation that they be made available to the general public. Most
of the material circulates in the same manner as books. Inquiries related
to the use of government documents should be directed to the Government
Documents and Microforms Department on the first floor of the O'Neill Library.
The Media Center on the second floor of O'Neill Library houses information
in many formats - videocassettes, laserdiscs, 16mm films, compact discs,
audiocassettes, and phonodiscs. Books with accompanying computer diskettes
are also shelved here. All media may be used by patrons within the department
in individual carrels. Classes with the faculty member present may reserve
one of our two classrooms. Faculty may reserve the Faculty Preview Room
for their use alone or when working with smaller groups. Loans are restricted
to B.C. faculty. The Center includes the Vision Resource Room - an area
of adaptive computer equipment and software for students with vision impairments.
Through membership in the New England Library Information Network (NELINET),
our users have on-line access to publishing, cataloging, and interlibrary
loan location information from the data bank of OCLC, Inc. which contains
over 32.5 million bibliographic records from the Library of Congress and
other national libraries and from over 20,000 other libraries world-wide.
Source: University Librarian