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Why use the Library?

When you are looking for information for your assignments, it's a good idea to start at the library.

Librarian's can help you find books, journals, videos and Internet based resources, that support your study.

To find out what the library holds, use the Library Catalogue.

As most libraries now have their catalogue's available online, you don't even have to physically visit them, simply turn on your PC and connect to their webpage to search.

The library catalogue will provide you with:

You can also:

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Logging On

The library system used at WelTec is called Spydus. Spydus is web based.

If you have logged on to a PC here at WelTec, the internet will open automatically at the WelTec homepage. Click on the popular links to WelTec library.

Or type the following URL into the address tool bar:

Your PC should open up on the WelTec Library homepage.

Click on the link that says Library Catalogue under the first heading Research, or use the Catalogue search box top right:

Which Search Option Should You Choose?

Once you have clicked on the Library Catalogue hyperlink, the default Quick Search screen will appear.

Quick Search works by looking for your selected keywords in each field of each record and should be the search option you use most often.

Rather than looking for your keywords in one field like title or author, it will search all fields, giving the best search results.

What is a Record and a Field?

Below is a copy of the record for the book The atlas of the human body, found using the library catalogue:

The title, author, imprint (date, name and place of publication) and subject headings are each fields in the record, which describe the resource and will help you to decide whether or not it might be suitable.

By using the Quick Search option (which is the default search option), Spydus will search for your keywords in each of these fields, instead of just a selected one.

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Keywords

To search the catalogue, enter keywords.

Keywords are words you use to precisely describe the topic you are trying to find information on.

Think carefully about which keywords you choose, as this can be the difference between success and failure.

EG To find out about treatments for depression amongst teenagers, keywords may be: "depression" and "adolescents".

We're making the assumption that any text that talks about depression in teenagers, should also talk about different treatments. If we add the keyword "treatment", it might also narrow the search down, and we may miss some key resources.

You always have the option of changing your keywords if you don't find anything useful.

We used the word "adolescents" instead of "teenagers". Why?

When choosing keywords, think about alternative words, which may have the same meaning as your initial keyword. Think about which keyword would be the most likely to be used in describing your topic.

EG job, occupation, career, employment and work are all words which mean a similar thing. Try searching using each of them.

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Hints for Choosing Keywords

To get the most relevant results when searching the library catalogue, try and keep the following hints in mind when choosing your keywords:

To overcome this problem, you may try and use Boolean searching to help you narrow down you search (see below about Boolean).
EG rugby AND union. Alternatively you might try rugby NOT league

• Make keywords as specific as possible.
  EG Art Deco Architecture will get more relevant Results than "old houses and buildings from the 1930's".

• Be careful of spelling!
  EG Counseling or Counselling. Try searching using both.

• Think about alternative words, which may have the same meaning as your initial keyword.
  EG Teacher, tutor, lecturer

• Use phrasing when you need to search for a specific phrase or combination of words. You can do this be enclosing your keywords in quotation marks. Note: you will need to put your words in the order you want them found, with exact spelling. EG "existential psychotherapy"

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Searching

To search the catalogue, type in your keywords and click on OK.

Eg: if you want to find what resources the library has on software engineering:

• Type the two words software engineering into the search box,

• Click on the OK button, or hit <enter> on your keyboard.

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Search Hints for Using the Library Catalogue

• Stay with Quick Search as this will actually do a title, author and subject search all at the same time, ensuring that you will get back the best results.

• EG By entering danc*, the catalogue will look for records which have the keywords dance, dances, dancer, dancing etc in them.

• When using Quickfind, don't worry about all the joining words such as "the, and, an etc". The catalogue sees them as "stop words" and ignores them when searching.

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Viewing Your Records

After the catalogue has completed its search, a list of results should be displayed on your screen. Brief details (title, author, imprint, location) about each item are displayed.

To bring up the full details of a resource, click on the title, which is highlighted in blue.

Below is the full detailed record for Accomodation services by Vivienne O'Schannessy, Sheryl Haby and Pania Richmond:

Notice the subject headings, these will tell you what the book is actually about.

Several parts of the record are highlighted and underlined in blue. Clicking on any of those hot links will bring up the list of resources connected to each.

Using the above record you can see that the library has other books written by the authors, and also that there are other resources about Accomodation and Hospitality Management.

• Try clicking on one of these links and see where you go.
  Following these "hotlinks" is a great way to find other related books and magazines you might find helpful.

The Holdings Record

The holdings record gives you the information you need to be able to find the resource in the library.

The holdings record can be found by scrolling to the bottom of your screen when you're looking at the full detailed record for a resource.

Location

Tells you at which campus the item is currently located ie Petone, Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch.

Check the location of the item. If the item is at another campus, you can place a reservation, or ask a librarian to reserve it for you, and it will be transferred to the campus you are at free of charge the following day.

Call Number
This number tells you where to find the resource on the shelf.

Items are classified according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system.

647.94 tells you what the book is generally about ie the subject area

O'SH is the first three letters of the author's surname

Write down the call number exactly, in order to be able to find it on the shelf.

• Firstly, the items are arranged numerically on the shelf.

  EG A book at 647 will be found on the shelf before a book at 700, because when you're counting, 647 comes before 700.

• Once you get to the shelf, there maybe a number of books at the same call number, so the items are then arranged alphabetically by author.

CAN will come on the shelf before CAT as although the first two letters are the same, N comes before T in the alphabet.

Status
Check to see if the item is Available or out On Loan.

If the item is on loan, the catalogue will tell you when it is due back.

You can either wait for it to be returned, or you can place a reservation on it. A notice will automatically be sent to your WelTec email address to tell you when the book is available for you to pick up. You can ask to be informed at your personal email address or phone by changing your library membership details with a librarian.

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A Brief Guide to Dewey

Below is a table which summaries the Dewey Decimal system for you. Dewey tries to group all the items about the same topic at the same number or spot on the shelf.

EG If you go and look on the shelf at 370, you will find all of the resources about education. If you are interested in accounting, you will find them all together on the shelf at 657.

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Reservations

Placing a reservation allows you to book an item if it is not immediately available. The item might be at another campus or someone may already have it out on loan.

When the title is available, the library staff will activate the reservation and keep it aside for you. This is a free service (even though when you place a reservation via the library catalogue, a message says a charge may be made - this is a default message and does not actually apply).

To place a reservation:

• Search for the item in the catalogue
  
• Bring the full record up, by clicking on the title
  
• At the top of this screen, select the box marked "Place Reservation".

You will then be asked for your:

• Borrower Number - which is your Student ID Number
  
• PIN Number - the last 4 digits of your home phone number (or ask a librarian to check your pin number if you're not sure)
  
• Pickup Location - Petone, Wellington, Auckland or Christchurch
  
• When you have finished, click on the Place Reservation box

When the item is ready for you to pick up, your student e-mail account will automatically be sent a reservations notice. If you would like to change this to your own personal e-mail account or have it posted out to you, please go and see the staff at the library and change your contact details for any notices.

The library will hold the item for 5 working days before returning it to the shelf, or allocating it to the next person on the waiting list.

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Your Personal Library Account

From here you can:

To access your library account:

On the Weltec Library homepage, click on the Quicklink access my library account bottom of screen or go through the Spydus online catalogue homepage.

Then enter your:

• Borrower Number (i.e. your student ID number)

You will now have access to your library account. To view or change anything, simply follow the online instructions.

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