Guide to Using the OSU Library
For High School Visitors
Prof. Dan Chaney
Humanities & Social Sciences Division
Welcome to the OSU Libraries!
• We’re glad to have you visit the
Library today. We hope all of you
will choose to attend OSU when it
comes time to make that decision.
• This is the Edmon Low Library,
the main library here on the OSU
campus.
• We’re going to talk a little bit
about doing research and using the
OSU Library
Library Data and Background
• The OSU Library is a member of
the prestigious Association of
Research Libraries and is ranked as
one of the top 108 research libraries
in the US (out of over 3,000
research libraries nationally)
• The Library collection numbers
some 2.2 million volumes and over
10,000 periodical titles.
• The Library has six floors of
materials.
• 40 full-time librarians, 60 support
staff, and over 100 students work in
the library.
OSU Branch Libraries
You need to be aware of the three branch
libraries at OSU because, depending on
your research topic, materials you need
may be in a branch library:
• Veterinary Medicine Library (College of
Veterinary Medicine) – materials dealing
with animal medicine, health, etc.
• Architecture Library (Architecture
Building) – materials dealing with
architecture, architectural engineering,
building design, etc.
• Curriculum Materials Library (Willard
Hall) – a teacher education library, with
an extensive collection of children’s
books, textbooks, etc.
Key Library Services
Reference Desks
• There are two reference desks in the
Edmon Low Library:
• Reference Desk (second floor): The
main reference desk for the Library
can help you access library resources,
databases and collections. If you need
assistance, start here.
• Documents Reference Desk (fifth
floor): A reference desk to assist
people is accessing the expansive
world of government documents.
• Note: You should not expect reference
desk staff to do your research for you, but
if you have questions, by all means,
please ask for assistance.
Circulation Desk
• The Circulation Desk
is on the first floor, in
the center of the floor.
• You can check out
books, if you have a
courtesy card (more
on that in a minute)
Photocopiers
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The Library has photocopiers on every floor.
Some copiers accept coins and cost .10 cents
per page
Some copiers use copy cards and cost .07 cents
per page.
Copy cards are like debit cards. You pay for the
copies in advance, in amounts that range from
$1 to $20. There is a .50 start up charge for
copy cards and cards are reusable. Don’t throw
away used up copy cards!
To buy a copy card, there are VendaCard
dispensers on the first floor, outside Room 105
(Microforms) and near the North Doors.
If you need change to make copies, you can get
change at the Stillwater CopyCenter, located
next to the North Doors.
How Can You Check Out Library Books?
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If you are over 18 years of age and have a valid drivers license, you
are eligible for a Courtesy Card, which allows you to check out
books at the Library.
If you are not over 18, you cannot get a Courtesy Card.
Books can be checked out for 4 weeks at a time, and are renewable,
as long as no one else needs them.
Overdue fines are .25 cents per day, per book.
If you have a courtesy card and check out books for your friends, be
aware that the Library will hold you responsible for any overdue
fines accrued in case your friends do not return the books they
checked out.
Books can be renewed via email (lib-cir@okstate.edu) or phone
(405) 744-9741)
To get a Courtesy Card, go to the Circulation Desk on the first floor.
Go early, don’t wait until 5 minutes before you leave – it takes time.
The Research Process
Do Your Homework Before You
Do Your Research
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Do you know what your topic is?
Is it focused and specific?
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Does it matter? YES!
Example: asking for information about
William Shakespeare isn’t specific – the
Library has thousands of books and
periodicals about Shakespeare and his works.
Asking for information about the use the plot
device called star-crossed lovers in
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – now that’s
specific!
Remember: librarians are here to help you
access information, not to help you narrow
your research topic. (That’s what your teacher
is here for )
How Do We Begin?
• After you’ve decided on a topic,
you may want to spend a little
time coming up with a list of
words to describe your topic. (I
call this process brainstorming)
• When we start searching
databases, different search
terms will give you different
results, so you’ll want to have a
list of terms to search in case
your first search gives you
nothing.
Brainstorming in Action
• Suppose you’re interested in researching Native American Spirituality.
• What are some other words we might use to describe Native
Americans?
• American Indians, native people, native cultures?
• Remember the plural and singular versions of these words.
Different spellings give different results.
• What are some other words we might use to describe Spirituality?
• Spiritual, spirit, spirits, spirited, religion, religions, faith, faiths,
myth, myths, mythology, mythologies (get the idea?)
• When you start searching databases, these are your keywords. Change
them into and out of your search statements, but be logical about it.
Finding Information
• Where do you get your
information?
• Books
• Periodicals
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Journals
• We have databases to help
you locate each different
kind of information
Accessing Information
• Information is accessed via
public access terminals
throughout the library.
• Computers are located primarily
on the first, second and fifth
floors, with library catalog
workstations on the third and
fourth floors and the basement.
• There is no paper card catalog,
it’s all electronic, and if you want
to find anything, you’ll need a
computer (which are in short
supply at times)
Finding Books
• To find books, use the OSU Library Catalog.
• The Library Catalog will also tell you if we own
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a periodical, such as Sports Illustrated or Time.
(Note: if you need articles from periodicals, you
will need to use a database such as ProQuest
Direct or EBSCO – more on that later).
You can search for books by keyword, if you just
have a topic in mind.
If you have a specific author or title, you can do
a basic search.
If you want to see if the Library owns a
periodical, do a basic search by journal title.
You can access the Library Catalog at
http://osucatalog.library.okstate.edu/ (It’s free to
the public.)
“Cool! I Found 10,000 Books!”
• Cool? That’s not cool. I don’t want to look through a list of 10,000
book titles, do you?
• If you find more than 100 books from a keyword search, go back and
enter another term(s) to your search.
• Example: if you do a keyword search of the library catalog for
Shakespeare, you’re going to get almost 3,000 books.
• If you really want books that deal with Shakespeare and Romeo and
Juliet, add the word Romeo to the search. You’ll still have over 60 books.
• If you really want books about criticizing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,
go back and add the word criticism to the search. Now you have 14 books.
Note: also consider using the keywords criticizing, critical, etc. (try
critic?)
• Don’t freak out if you can’t find anything in the Library Catalog. You
should be able to find tons of things in our other databases, such as
Literature Online. (More on that in a few.)
Interpreting the Book Record
• Click on the title of one of
your results to see more
information, such as the
author, title, subtitle,
publisher name, publisher
place, date of publication,
subject headings, etc.
• Subjects tell you what the
book is really about.
• Below the Subjects, you’ll
see the real heart of the
record, the location, call
number and the status.
Book Location
• Location tells you what library or branch
the book is located in.
• Remember, the OSU Library has three
branch libraries.
• Veterinary Medicine Library
• Architecture Library
• Curriculum Material Library
• All are “road trips” across the OSU campus.
Library Call Numbers
• The Library assigns each book a unique call number.
• A call number is like the street address to your home. It
tells people where you live. A call number is pretty much
the same thing. It tells people where a specific book lives.
• The OSU Library uses the Dewey Decimal Number system
for books, which is the same numbering system used by
your school and public libraries.
• Make sure to find a call slip before you go looking for a
book. Call slips will tell you what floor your call number is
located on.
Book Status
• The status part of the record tells you if the book is
checked out or not.
• If it says Not Checked Out that means the book should be
on the shelf.
• If it says Checked Out, Due with a date, that means
someone has the book checked out and you won’t find it
on the shelf.
• If it says On Order or In Process that means the book isn’t
really in the library at all – we are in the process of
ordering it and it may not arrive for weeks or even months.
Finding Periodicals
• To find articles from newspapers,
magazines and journals, use ProQuest
Direct or EBSCO (Academic Search Elite).
• Note: EBSCO is available through your
local public library (state funded database)
and you can get to it whenever it’s
convenient. (You may need to call your
local public library to get instructions.)
ProQuest & EBSCO
• Provide access to full-text periodicals,
beginning roughly in 1986 and current
through today.
• Not every article is full-text, however.
• If you find an article which isn’t full-text,
search the Library Catalog by journal title
to see if it’s available in the OSU Library.
Searching ProQuest/EBSCO
• Basically, you search these databases the same way you
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searched the Library Catalog.
If you get too many results, add another keyword. Keep
adding keywords until you get less than 50 results.
Choose your search terms carefully!
Remember, different keywords might give you different
results.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. 
PQD and EBSCO may not offer much assistance in
literature research, but there in another place to look.
For Literature Topics
• Search Literature Online, a database of
literature resources: books, journal and
magazine articles, summaries, annotations,
KnowledgeNotes,etc.
• Search by author name and keyword for
titles.
• Full-text, similar to ProQuest.
A Caution About Printing
If you find full-text articles on Literature Online,
ProQuest or EBSCO, try to exercise some discretion
with regard to printing. OSU students pay a
technology fee, which supports their access to
databases like ProQuest as well as the printers, toner
and paper. Visitor groups haven’t paid the
technology fee, and are essentially getting the
benefits of the databases without paying the costs
associated. Please exercise some good judgment
regarding printing use – print 5 articles full-text, and
send the rest via email to yourself. Emailing articles
doesn’t cost the Library anything.
A Gentle Reminder
About Library Computers
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The public computers in the Library are available on a first come first serve
basis. Computer access can be scarce at peak usage times, 9:30am – 3:00pm
The computers have open access to the Internet, as many Library resources are
available online.
We offer priority access to the Library computers for OSU students, faculty
and staff.
We reserve the right to “bump” non-University personnel who are at Library
workstations.
If we observe visitors using Library computers to waste time or OSU
computing resources (i.e., chatrooms or reading email) we sometimes bump
them first.
Don’t monopolize Library computer workstations, because the college
students will complain!
I’ll keep this room (206) open for an hour or two, and I’ll be here if you need
some help.
Visitor Guidelines
• As visitors to the OSU Libraries, please avoid
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making disruptive noises such as yelling, talking
loudly, etc.
Please set cellular telephones to “vibrate” mode.
Food and drink are not encouraged in the Library.
Remember that you are a representative of your
school while in the Library and on campus.
If complaints about high school students in the
Library are registered, future library visits for that
school can be denied.