Overview of Library Divisions

There are five main units within the LSUS library:

1. Research Services

• Research Services is more commonly known as Reference. Reference includes a collection of materials on the first floor primarily designed for finding quick answers, like “What is the population of China today?” or “I need a copy of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.”
• The Reference Collection is located on the first floor, and includes materials like encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, indexes, gazetteers, atlases, collections of literary criticisms, etc. These materials cannot be checked out.
• The library is a depository for some U.S. and Louisiana government publications. These publications are also located on the first floor.
• Reference librarians are available at the Reference Desk to assist patrons with the online catalog and indexes, and to help them find and use the appropriate materials for their research needs.
• The Reference librarians also work with the faculty to select new materials for the library, and to teach “How to use the library” classes at the request of faculty members.

2. Access Services

• Access Services is in charge of providing access to the library materials.
• Circulation handles tasks like checking the books in and out, and tracking materials that are charged out to be sure they are returned on time.
• Circulation also manages course reserves, which are materials that are held behind the circulation desk for use by students in a particular class for a limited period of time.
• Circulation staff handle interlibrary lending and borrowing, meaning that we loan to and borrow from other libraries when patrons submit requests for items that the library does not own.
• Microforms and Media houses the library’s collection of videos, microfilm and microfiche, audiotapes, records, etc.
• Microforms and Media has equipment for viewing or listening to the various media, along with computers for various Office applications and special needs equipment for patrons with visual disabilities.
• Stacks Maintenance is charged with making sure that the books are in order. Stacks Maintenance staff reshelve books that have been returned each day, along with materials that have been used in-house, like bound journals that patrons have pulled to photocopy.
• The Stacks Maintenance staff constantly “shelf-read” the collection, meaning that each staff person is assigned a section, and is expected to scan that section daily to look for items that are out of order.

3. Technical Services

• Technical Services is in charge of ordering and receiving books, periodicals, and other library materials.
• Once materials are received, technical services staff manage the cataloging and processing of the materials, repairing or rebinding damaged items, and binding journal issues together into complete volumes.

4. Noel Collection

• The Noel Collection is a private collection of books, located on the third floor, on “permanent loan” to the LSUS library from the family of James S. Noel.
• The books in the Noel Collection cannot be checked out. Some of the materials in the Noel Collection are extremely rare and fragile.
• Scholars from around the world have come to use these materials.

5. Archives and Special Collections

• Also on the third floor, the Archives and Special Collections houses a wealth of unique material pertaining to the history of Northwest Louisiana.
• The collection contains photographs, maps, architectural drawings, oral histories, and a variety of other materials.
• The materials in the Archives and Special Collections cannot be taken out. Most of these materials are one-of-a-kind, and cannot be replaced.
• Like the Noel Collection, the Archives and Special Collections attracts researchers from all over the world.

 

 

 

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The statements found on this page are for informational purposes only.
While every effort is made to ensure that this information is up to date and accurate, for official information please consult a printed University publication.

Last updated 08/25/2006