Читать книгу How to Succeed At University--International Edition - Danton O'Day - Страница 32

The library is the most valuable aid for your education. Nevertheless, most students drastically underuse it. Don’t be one of them. If you intend to succeed at university, it is imperative that you use the library to the fullest. But to use it to the fullest you must know what facilities are available and you must learn how to use the place to your advantage.

Did You Know?

The library is often an overlooked resource, especially among international students. A survey of international students from three United States universities found that these students frequently use the library to access computers and for quiet study. However, international students tend not to take full advantage of the resources the library offers. What steps could be taken to encourage more thorough library use among this part of the student population? Some possibilities include increased availability of materials in non-English languages and library websites aimed at international students.⁹

All university librarians want you to use the facility that they have striven to perfect. As a result they continually work towards educating the library user. There is a lot more to using the library than simply looking up a book or author in the catalogue and then going to the shelves (or stacks, as they are called) and picking out the book.

University libraries purchase journals as well as books. Journals will be invaluable to you in the preparation of essays, book reports and laboratory write-ups. The more familiar you become with journals the easier your research for a paper will become. Another source of data will be clipping files. Relevant articles from certain newspapers are clipped out and filed under their respective topics. For some disciplines there will also be indexes that divide books and journals into subject areas. These will greatly aid you in finding relevant material rapidly. Some libraries even supply lists of basic library resources for certain disciplines, so the main sources of information for the student are clearly laid out.

Depending on your university’s financial resources, most of the major journals (which you will use increasingly in your later years) and some books will be available online. This is great because you can search for articles and then download them for use in reports, essays and talks, among other things. Online catalogues can also save time in searching for materials. Some university libraries also oversee training in the use of specific software for writing, analyzing data or presenting talks.

There are so many other sources of information that the library provides (e.g., video and audio media) that it is impossible to describe them all. We can guarantee that your library will have regular, detailed tours of its facilities. You must attend one if you intend to get good grades. If you miss the tours, then have one of the librarians show you the facilities. We haven’t met a librarian yet who wasn’t interested in showing off his or her domain.

Did You Know?

As more technologies become available, they are adopted by universities worldwide as new ways of providing learning resources. A recent study examined the resources used by students and instructors at a university in Iran. Although the use of electronic media was widespread, printed resources were still used most frequently. One of the main factors that prevented students' use of learning resources was the lack of access to research facilities. That is, many universities don't have the funds to implement new technologies at a scale large enough to fulfil all students' needs.¹⁰