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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please note the Main Campus Library revised operation hours during Term and Term break effective 08 May 2023.

OPERATION HOURS (PENANG)
(PART-TIME/FULL-TIME STUDY TERM & TERM BREAK MODE)
[08 May 2023 - present]

Monday - Friday: 8.30 AM - 5.30 PM
Closed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

REGIONAL CENTRE LIBRARIES
Tuesday - Sunday: 10.00 am to 7.00 pm.

Closed on Mondays and public holidays.

ABOUT US

NEW DATABASES

The Library is pleased to announce the addition of the following e-journal databases

Proquest ABI/INFORM (Business Collection)

ACM Digital Library (Computing & IT)

ACM Computing Reviews (Computing)

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LIBRARY RESEARCH GUIDES - LOCATING ITEMS

3.4 Locating items

The brief or detailed record provides information about the library holdings, for example the number of copies, where they are located, and whether they are out on loan. This information is usually found towards the bottom of the record. The title display also sometimes provides this information.

Location
Search result displays show holdings at all Regional Centre libraries. It is important that you note which library holds the item you are looking for. Each site that holds a copy of an item will have a separate location description. This tells you :

The name of the library in which the item is held
E.g. HQ Library-General Collection, RCIpoh-General Collection
The name of the collection within that library
E.g. RCJB Audio-visual/Multimedia
Whether or not the item is on Reserve e.g. On hold
The call number e.g. PE 1128 B893 2015
The number of copies that are held in that collection
The status of the copies e.g. Available or Due

3.4.1 Understanding call numbers

Have you ever wondered how library resources are assigned their places on the shelves? Each book in the library has a call number.

A call number tells you where the book is located in the library. Call number appears on the spine of books and in OPAC.

Note that the same call number can be written from top-to-bottom, or left-to-right.

A call number label is attached to the spine or front cover of each item. Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System to assign call numbers.

A call number is the address of the book in the library collection.

(a) The first line of a call number may begin with one, two or three letters e.g. QE 352

The first letter of a call number represents one of the 21 major divisions of the LC System. In the example, the subject "Q" is Science.
The second letter "E" represents a subdivision of the sciences, Geology. All books in the QE's are primarily about Geology

Most other subject areas will have call numbers with one or two letters. These letters should be read alphabetically A-Z. A call number that begins with A is shelved before one that begins with B, C, etc. and a call number that begins with QE is located somewhere before the one that starts with QL.

(b) The second line is the numbers after letters with one or more digits.

The first set of numbers in a call number help to define a book's subject.
"534.2" in the example teach us more about the book's subject. The range QE500-625 are books about "Dynamic and Structural Geology".

Books with call number QE534.2 are specifically "Earthquakes, Seismology - General Works - 1970 to Present".

This line is read numerically. A call number with a smaller number in its second line is placed before one that has a large number for its second line.

(c) The third line is the trickest part of the call number. The letter is shelved alphabetically and the numerical component is read as decimal number. The third line often represents the author's last name. Example : B = Barron

Thus :

The numbers have to be read as decimals :

0.444 before 0.64 before 0.7 before 0.7543

(d) The final lines of the call numbers may include dates, volume indicators, issue numbers, copy numbers.

Tips on how to read call number

3.4.2 Location prefixes

Some call number, however, are preceded by a location prefix.

Example: REF HF5821 D545 2015

The REF prefix indicates that this book is shelved in the Reference Collection. Location prefixes mean that book is shelved in a special place, and may have loan restrictions. Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Library uses the following location prefixes :

Prefix	Collection
[Blank]	General Collection
REF	Reference Collection
SC	Serial Collection
VF	Vertical file - Digital collection created by staff

For more information about call numbers and finding library materials, ask your Librarian or e-mail us.

3.4.3 Status
This status messages tell you where the item is and whether there have been any requests placed on it.

Available

Item is not currently on loan, and should be on the shelves.
it it's not there, it may be used by another person in the library or it might still be waiting on a trolley for shelving.

Note: Each copy number is listed, so if a location has 4 items (i.e. copies) and Copy-2 is listed as on loan, there should be 3 copies still available on the shelves.

Due date

It indicates that the item has been borrowed. The due date and time are also listed. An item that is overdue, reserved and recalled will be indicated.

Example : Due date: 29-4-2016 23:59

3.4.4 Reservation

Reservation can be made by clicking on the Request button.