Using The Library Effectively

1.1 The Library

Books are housed in a place called library, derived from
librarium, a Greek term which means a place for the custody
or administration of a collection of reading materials.
Library – a place where books, magazines, and other
materials are available to use or borrow.
Every student must know how to use the different sections of
this important place of the school, and must learn how the
books are classified. To get the most of it, he must have a
the
good knowledge about the following in the library:
arrangement of books, the card catalogue, the different
sections of the library, and the reference materials available
there.
 1.2 Kinds of Reading Materials in
the Library
General Collection of books which can be borrowed:
1. Fiction – (Novels, short stories, and drama) – The books are
arranged in alphabetical order according to the surname of
the author. Some libraries write F on the spine or backbone of
fictional books.written
* stories about people and events that
are not real
2. Nonfiction - The books are about real things, people,places
and the like.
3. General References
a. Dictionaries e. Almanacs i. Directories
b. Encyclopedias f. Atlases h. Bibliographical
c. Indexes g. Gazetteers Dictionaries
d. Yearbooks h. Bibliographies
4. Periodicals
a. Newspapers
b. Magazines
c. Journals
5. Special Reference Materials or non book materials
a. Pamphlets
b. Government Publications
c. Clippings
d. Audio-visual Materials (pictures, postcards, slides, filmstrips,
manuscripts, maps, globes, phonographs, records, tapes, wire
recordings, microcards, microfilm, microtext.)
 1.3 Arrangement of Books
The books in the library are arranged according to these two
classification systems: DDC (Dewey Decimal Classification)
named after its developer, Melvil Dewey, and the LCC (Library of
Congress Classification) used by big libraries.
The Dewey Decimal Classification groups the books into 10
classes, while the Library of Congress classifies them into
subgroups or subdivisions. The call number of a book falling
under the DDC begins with the Arabic numerals, while that of the
LCC begins with the big letter plus Arabic numerals.
Examples:
DDC LCC
539.72 LB
G2 470
1995 1998
G2
1995
Here are the tables showing the classification of books:

THE DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION

000 – 099 General Works (Encyclopedia, Dictionaries)

100 – 199 Philosophy (Ethics, Logic)
200 – 299 Religion (Bible, Saints)
300 – 399 Social Sciences (Sociology, Psychology, Law)
500 – 599 Pure Science (Physics, Biology)
600 – 699 Applied Science (Agriculture, Aeronautics)
700 – 799 Arts and Recreation (Music, Painting)
800 – 899 Literature (Poetry, Essays)
900 – 999 History, Geography
 The Library of Congress Classification

A – General Works
B – Philosophy and Religion
C – History, Auxiliary Sciences
D – History, Auxiliary Sciences (except America)
E – America (General)
F – America (Local)
G – Geography, Anthropology
H – Social Science
J – Political Science
K – Law
L – Education
M – Music
N – Fine Arts
P – Philippines and Literature
Q – Science
R – Medicine
S – Agriculturen
T – Technology
U – Military Science
V – Naval Science
Z – Bibliography, Library Science

1.4 The Card Catalogue

The card catalogue, with the several sliding drawers and
situated at the most visible part of the library, contains the
records of all books inside the library. For each book, it has the
following data:
1. Title of the Book
2. Author of the Book
3. Subject Matter of the Book
4. Information about the Publication of the book (place, date, and
publisher)
5. Call Number of the Book
6. Number of revisions and editions
7. Number of pages
8. Illustrator (s)

These data about the book are typed on cards arranged

alphabetically inside the sliding orders. These are three major
kinds of cards, namely: title card, author card, and subject card.
Another card found in the card catalogue is the cross reference
or see also card. This card suggest alternative books to be used
for a certain subject. For an easy or speedy location of a
particular book, a student has to consult the card catalogue.
Examples:

1. Title Card

793.7
L34
Games to Play
Larsen, Harold, 2nd ed. Illus. by
Berthold, Tiedman, California: Harper and
Row 15 p. illus.

1. Mathematical Recreations 1. Title

2. Author Card

793.7
L34

Larsen, Harold
Games to Play, 2nd Ed. Illus. by
Berthold, Tiedman, California: Harper and
Row, 15 p. illus.

1. Mathematical Recreation 1. Author

3. Subject Card

793.7 Mathematical Recreations

L34

Larsen, Harold
Games to Play, 2nd Ed. Illus.
By Berthold, Tiedman, California:
Harper and Row,
15 p. illus.
4. Cross Reference or See Also Card

Aluminum

See

Metals
1.5 Sections of the Library
The library has a specific questions for a particular sets of
reading materials. These are the following:

1.5.1 Circulation Section – This section contains the general

collection of books, fiction and nonfiction, which the students
can borrow for home use.

1.5.2 Reserve Section – Kept in this section are books that may
be requested by some teachers to be made available for their
students for a shorter period of time.

1.5.3 Reference Section – Books containing specific facts and

information about anything in this world are kept in this section.
The following references contain facts and information about the
world:

1. Encyclopedia – This is a reference material that gives

information on almost every subject. These pieces of
information, arranged alphabetically, are put together in book
form and are sold to the public in series of volumes.
2. Dictionary – An unabridged dictionary is one of the most useful
books in the library, because it gives a lot of information about
word, such as its spelling, syllabication, pronunciation,
meaning, stress, function, its etymology or origin and many
more.
3. Bibliographical Dictionary – A reference material that gives
information about famous distinguished people, dead or alive,
is a bibliographical dictionary.
4. Yearbook – This gives information about the yearly activities,
accomplishments, and composition of a government or a
private institution or a company.Annual is the other term given
to this reference material.
5. Atlas – When a student wants to see a collection of maps,
contemporary or historical, he can turn to an atlas.
6. Almanac – Pieces of information about the economic,
political, astronomical, meteorological, and statistical data on
the commercial and sport status of a country are found in an
Almanac.
7. Gazetteer – This gives a list of names of places plus
information or description of each place such as its location,
terrain, and correct pronunciation of its name.
8. Indexes – An index is a material that indicates where a
particular article in a magazines or a journal can be found. As a
guide, it gives the title, volume, series number, and date of the
magazines containing the article.
9. Bibliographical – This contains a list of a names of authors, of
a certain books. Every entry gives not only the name of the writer
but also the date and place of publication, including the name of
the publisher.
 10. Directories – To obtain some pieces of information about a
person – his name, address, and telephone number, and some
information, about organizations and companies, one can turn to
a directory.

1.5.4 Periodical Section – This is where one can see

magazines, newspapers, and journals.
Periodicals are materials that are come or published at regular
intervals of time. There materials are:newspapers, magazines,
andjournals. A journal is a recording of any part of one’s
experience, anecdotes, wishful thinking, dreams, jokes, sports,
notes, among other things.
The two types of periodicals are:
1. General Periodicals – These contains articles on different
interest and subjects. Examples are:Reader’s Digest, Time,
Newsweek, and the local magazines like Mod, Women’s,
Miscellaneous.
 2. Professional Periodicals – These are sometimes called professional
journals containing articles on a particular field of knowledge which are
written by members of the profession. Some examples of these are the
College English, Language Teaching Forum, The Reading Journal, Law
Review Journal.

The wordmagazine came frommakhazin ormakzan (Arabian) meaning,

granary or storehouse, frommagasine (Italian), and frommagazine
(French). These are called periodicals because they are published
weekly, monthly, quarterly, or fortnightly. A newspaper, on the other hand,
is a paper printed and distributed at regular intervals. The article in a
newspaper are of different types. They are:
1. The Editorial – This presents the editor’s or the publisher’s opinion
on current issues, situations, or news item.
2. The News Story – This talks about the latest news in town.
3. The Feature Story or Feature Article – This features interviews with
well-known people, or people mentioned in the news story. It also gives
descriptions of unusual people, players, events, and things.
4. The Signed Column – The column is a regular feature of most
newspapers. The name of the writer or columnist appears in the
column. This part of the newspapers presents the columnist’s
opinions about business, economics, sports, politics.
5. Special Interest or Features – The features which are usually
accompanied by pictures, graphs, and charts deal with subject
matter that caters to the varied special interests of the readers.
Examples of these are features on art, entertainment, foods,
fashion, agriculture, literature, puzzles, recipes, obituaries, radio
and Tv programs, and market reports.
6. Advertisements – This portion of the newspaper helps the
reader in searching for a job, probable buyers, and products to buy.
A person who wants to advertise something in this portion must
pay an advertisement fee which may serve as an additional
income for the publisher, who, for generating more income through
the advertisement, may consider selling the newspaper at a
cheaper price.
7. The Cartoon – These are pictorial exaggerations or drawings
that express the opinions of a newspaper on some current issues
or news.
8. The Comic Strip – These are serial pict