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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Murphy Library. This guide will lead
you to the services and resources you will need
for your research and classes at the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse.
We will start at the door - the gateway to
knowledge. For detailed information click on the
underlined links.
- Library Hours
- Floor Plan-First Floor
CIRCULATION/RESERVE DESK
When you enter the building you will
see the Circulation Services /Reserve
Desk to your left. This is where you may check out and return
books, renew
library materials, pick up or return
interlibrary loan items, pay fines, get change,
purchase computer disks, and place searches for
items not found on the shelves. A bar-coded UW-La
Crosse ID card must be presented when checking out
library materials. ID's are not transferable.
Material placed on
Reserve
may be checked out here by presenting your valid UW-L ID. These items are assigned
readings placed in the library by the instructor
for a specific class. Loan periods are limited to
allow all students in the class an opportunity to
use the material. Some items are available through
the
Electronic
Reserve Collection.
INFORMATION KIOSK
Just past the Circulation Desk on your right you
will see a kiosk with printed guides to library
materials and services. Feel free to take what you
need when you are in the library. The same
material is available online at Library
Guides.
REFERENCE DESK
Past the Circulation Desk on the left is the
reference area. Ask at the desk for help with
using the library catalog, electronic indexes and
other reference materials or to request materials
help by other libraries. The shelves south of the
desk (to the right) hold the Reference Collection
- general and specialized dictionaries,
encyclopedias, atlases and bibliographies.
Reference books do not circulate. Here you will
also find computer databases, internet access, and
access to the online library catalog.
INDEXES AND ABSTRACTS
Periodical articles on your topic may be
identified by using indexes and abstracts in
either paper or electronic format. Some are
general, covering a wide variety of topics, while
others are subject specific. Paper indexes and
abstracts are located on shelves southeast of the
Reference Desk. Abstracts are a type of index
which provides a brief summary (abstract) of the
article as well as a citation which explains where
the article was published.
Most periodical indexes are now available as
electronic databases. Most of these
electronic
databases are available anywhere on campus.
CD-ROM databases are located in the computer
cluster near the Reference Desk.
PERIODICALS
On the west end of the main floor opposite the
reference desk is the periodical collection.
Periodicals do not circulate. Please read our Periodicals
Circulation Policy. The first few rows
of shelving contain individual issues of
periodicals for the current year filed in
alphabetical order by the title of the periodical.
Following the current periodicals are bound
volumes of older issues shelved alphabetically by
title. Some older issues are available only in
microfilm. You will find microfilm and microfiche
periodicals on the south side of the periodical
section in black cabinets. Microform
reader-printers are available in this area also.
Staff in the periodicals office are available to
help you with the microform machines. Please note that hundreds of our current subscriptions are now available electronically.
NEWSPAPERS
On the north side of the bound periodical stacks
in the newspaper collection. The current day's
issues are available in the display rack. Issues
extending for approximately one month back are
shelved on low wooden shelving. Newspapers on
microfilm are kept here in black cabinets. Bound
newspaper indexes are located on shelves in this
area. For the locations of electronic newspaper
indexes see Newspapers
PERIODICALS LIST
For a list of all periodicals owned by
Murphy Library (magazines, journals, newspapers)
as well as other area libraries, see the
Periodicals
Holdings List. More detailed information about
our local periodical holdings is also available in the
library
catalog.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Another important resource is located across the
lobby from the library entrance. Special
Collections houses the
Area Research Center,
rare
books,
Wisconsiana,
historical photographs, and
university archives. This department maintains one
of the world's largest collections of steamboat
photographs. The Area Research Center, a branch of
the State Historical Society, contains historical
records and papers relating to Jackson, La Crosse,
Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon Counties.
Materials in Special Collections do not
circulate and must be used in this room. Although
the room is kept locked for security reasons, the
collections and resources are available to
everyone. Ring the door bell to gain admittance.
All users are required to
register.
- Floor Plan-Second
Floor
GENERAL COLLECTION A-Z
Books that may be checked out are shelved on the
second floor. At the top of the stairs turn right
and walk through the door marked "General
Collection". The library catalog terms this
shelving location as "2nd FLOOR STACKS".
Books are shelved according to Library of Congress
call numbers. On the right-hand side of the aisle
you will see books with call numbers beginning
with "A".
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION
- A:General Works
- B:Philosophy, Psychology, religion
- C:Auxiliary Sciences of History
- D:History - General & Eastern Hemisphere
- E-F:History - Western Hemisphere
- F:Geography, Anthropology, Recreation
- H:Social Sciences
- J:Political Science
- K:Law
- L:Education
- M:Music
- N:Fine Art
- P:Language and Literature
- Q:Sciences
- R:Medicine
- S:Agriculture
- T:Technology
- U:Military Science
- V:Naval Science
- Z:History of Books, Library Science,
Bibliography
OVERSIZED COLLECTION A-Z
On the left side of the aisle are oversized books.
The library catalog location will indicate that
these books are in "OVERSIZE STACKS".
ALICE HAGAR CURRICULUM CENTER
Return to the central stairway and cross the
bridge to the north side of the building to the
Alice Hagar Curriculum Center. Here you will find
a collection of education materials and children's
books, including video to check out or view on
site, ERIC documents, and a variety of textbooks.
Nearby is the Research Center for Cultural
Diversity & Community Renewal.
- Curriculum
Collection
DOCUMENTS COLLECTION
Now take the stairs or the elevator two
flights down to the basement level. Walk straight
ahead from the main stairway or the elevator
toward the government documents office (south). Documents staff members in the
office will be glad to provide assistance in using
the documents collection.
As you face the documents office, the documents
collection is to your right. As a depository
library, Murphy Library receives both Federal and
Wisconsin government documents. We also purchase a
few key United Nations documents. Materials include agency
publications, census information, Federal
regulations and laws, Congressional materials and
Supreme Court proceedings. While many documents
are on the bookshelves, others are in microfiche
format, and many are electronic resources accessed
online through the Catalog.
Floor Plan-Basement
BOUND PERIODICALS and COMPACT STORAGE
Face the basement stairway and look to the right.
Along the north wall you will find an area of
shelving referred to as "BASEMENT COMPACT"
in the library catalog. This compact shelving
houses items that are primarily older volumes of
reference material, periodicals, and documents.
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