Image courtesy of Manhattanville College Special Collections
If you are working on an assignment, bring the instructor’s assignment with you or be prepared to access the assignment from Blackboard. Having the assignment available, will help us to help you!
When you come to the Library bring your Manhattanville ID card with you – you will need it to check out books, DVD’s, and materials on reserve. (You will need to get a barcode in order to take out materials). You will also need it to print and copy materials.
When you come to the Library bring your Manhattanville ID card with you – you will need it to check out books, DVD’s, and materials on reserve. You will also need it to print and copy materials.
Find and check out books, DVDs, and laptops (for 3 hours)
Borrow materials from other libraries, called Interlibrary Loan, at Mville we call it Illiad
Ask a librarian and get help with your research paper
Find materials that your professor put on reserve for you (You can borrow this material for 3 hours)
Access electronic journals, magazines, e-books, and scholarly websites
Meet with your colleagues and work on projects
Use the computers to work on a paper or project
Copy and print (You will need to have your Manhattanville ID to do this)
Have a cup of coffee, tea, food, and chat with your friends
We encourage you to ask for reference assistance when you need help finding information sources to support a paper, project, or presentation, or about any topic that interests you!
First of all, congratulations if you are the first in your family to attend college! Being first in the family to attend college may offer some unique challenges. This guide is designed to help you.
There are a few ways to get help at the library.
When you are in the Library:
If you are not in the Library, but you still need help, there are many ways that you can contact us.
We look forward to working with you!!!!!
How to Ask a Reference Question
Here are some of the questions the librarian may ask you:
"What are you researching?"
“What type of information are you hoping to find?”
“What have you done so far?”
“How much information do you need?”
“What kinds of information do you need or want to use?”
"What citation style do you need to use?"
If you are doing information research for a class assignment, having the instructor's assignment requirements with you will help us to help you!
Library lingo can sometimes be confusing. Here is a list of some terms and definitions of some common library terms. There is also a glossary of library terms translated in 6 languages (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Arabic).
Bibliography: A source which contains a list of citations to books, articles, or other documents, usually related to a particular topic.
Call number: A sequence of numbers and/or letters used to identify a particular item in a collection and to place the item in its proper place on the shelf. The Library of Congress classification system is used at Santa Clara University
Circulation: The department in a library responsible for checking out books, checking in books, and other tasks related to the circulation of materials
Citation (or bibliographic citation)The information needed for someone to find an item. For example, the bibliographic citation for a book would contain the Title, Author or Editor, Edition, Place of Publication, Publisher and Year of Publication. The bibliographic citation for an article would contain the Title of the Article, Author of the Article, Title of the Periodical, Volume Number, Issue Number (or sometimes the month and date), Year of Publication, and the Page Numbers.
Course Reserve: A special collection of materials deposited by faculty members for use by students for a limited time period. Many faculty also use ERES, the electronic reserve system.
Desensitizer: A magnetic device that deactivates the security strip placed inside a book, etc.
Encore: The library online catalog: used for finding books, videos, and other materials owned by the Manhattanville College libra
Illiad: A service which allows students, faculty, and staff to borrow books from member libraries at several other colleges and public libraries provided that those books or periodicals are not available in the Manhattanville College Library.
Interlibrary loan (ILL): An interlibrary loan/document delivery service for SCU students, faculty, and staff provided by the Library to obtain books, magazine or journal articles, conference proceedings, dissertations and other research materials not available on-campus. At Manhattanville our ILL system is called Illiad.
ISBN: International Standard Book Number. A unique 10-digit code assigned to a specific edition of a book before it is published.
ISSN: International Standard Serial Number. A unique 8-digit code assigned to the specific title of a serial.
Journal Finder: A search tool on the library website used to determine the date ranges and formats of all the journals and magazines the library subscribes to or has access to (to let you know whether we have a particular publication). At Manhattanville, it is called Journals A-Z located on the library homepage.
Library Databases:A database is an organized collection of computer records. The most common type of library databases consists of records describing articles in periodicals. By entering search terms related to a topic, patrons are able to retrieve information about articles of interest from the database. Check the library website for a list of available databases in various disciplines (for example: Academic Search Premier, Proquest General).
Library of Congress classification system: The classification system developed by the library of Congress which divides knowledge into subject areas. This system is used for cataloging books and also for shelving purposes.
Library Liaison: Librarian assigned to specific Manhattanville academic department who is familiar with the discipline and course requirements. Students are encouraged to set up Research Consultations appointments to assist them with their research ( for example: Art, Business, History, Psychology, and Physics).
Periodical: A publication that is produced at regular intervals, or "periodically", under the same title and is intended to appear indefinitely ( for example magazines, newspapers, journals)
Reference Collection: Books not meant to be read cover-to-cover, such as dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias, shelved together in a special section of the library called the reference area. These books cannot be checked out of the Library and must be used in the building.
Research Guide (also called LibGuides): Collection of print and electronic resources created by each academic liaison librarian, specific to their discipline; available on the library website. The purpose of the research guide is to help student with their research in various disciplines.
Scholarly journal: A periodical which contains articles written by researchers or professionals in a particular subject or discipline, supported by in depth research, and bibliographies/references to all articles. Also called refereed or peer-reviewed journal.
Special Collections: The Special Collections Department houses rare, unique or historically significant items within the Manhattanville College Library. The department encompasses both the Rare Book Collection and the College Archives.
Style Manual: Special handbooks that illustrate the accepted forms for citing references in bibliographies, footnotes, and endnotes. Some style manuals are for general use. Others are published by professional associations as form guides for articles in journals in that field of knowledge and research. (For example, MLA, APA, and Chicago)
