Website Directory Foundation Contacts About Capital Library Home Page

Library Policies and Services

Library Mission

The goals of the Arthur C. Banks Library are to provide for the informational needs of the students, faculty and staff of Capital Community College and the community at large. In seeking to provide for and support curriculum based learning, lifelong learning and information literacy, as defined by the American Library Association (ALA website, 2003) as “the set of skills needed to find, retrieve, analyze, and use information,” we challenge ourselves to provide a broad range of services and a friendly environment for all of our users.

Please visit the Library’s Home Page to view all of our available online resources, search for books, videos and DVDs using our online public access catalog, and to view full descriptions of our services. A Distance Learning Library Services Webpage is also available.

Library Policies

These policies were designed to create a productive study environment for all who use the library.
  • Cell phone pagers and ringers must be turned off.
  • No food or drink allowed.
  • Shirts and shoes must be worn at all times.
  • The library is not responsible for items left unattended.
  • Closing Policies – 15 minutes prior to closing:
    • Librarians and/or staff will inform patrons that the library is about to close.
    • Patrons must save or print all documents.
    • All photocopying must be completed.
    • All books or articles must be checked out.
    • All biology models must be returned to the circulation desk.
  • Children under 12 must not be left unattended.
    • Children under 12 are not allowed to use library computers or AV equipment.
    • Children are asked to keep their voices down.
  • Group Study rooms are available for groups of 2-6 persons. Each room includes a whiteboard and TV/ VCR.
    • Rooms can be reserved for 2 hours on a first come first served basis.
    • Dry erase markers and erasers for the whiteboards can be borrowed from the circulation desk.
    • Reservations can be made at the reference desk and can be phoned in the day before.
    • Library policies about food, drink and cell phones also apply to the study rooms.
    • Rooms are intended for group study, individuals using a group study room will be asked to leave if a group arrives.
    • Reserved rooms will be held only 15 minutes, if after that time the group does not show up, the room will become available.
  • Multimedia Room (The library has a multimedia room where students can watch videos or DVD’s. The room is equipped with TV/VCR combinations, DVD and CD players and a typewriter.)
    • Library policies regarding no food and drink and cell phones also apply to the multimedia
    • Children under 12 must be attended by an adult.
    • Headphones are available at the Circulation desk (a library card is needed to borrow headphones).

Circulation Policies:

  • Library cards are issued to the following:
    • Students enrolled at the college
    • College alumni, faculty and staff

Borrowing Policies:

  • Circulating material:
    • Books may be checked out for 28 days.
    • Items may be renewed in person or by phone if no one has requested the item.
    • A limit of ten items may be borrowed at any one time.
    • Patrons are not allowed to borrow any more items if they have overdue items charged out.
  • Curriculum Based Media:
    • These must be used in the library.
    • Faculty may borrow media for a limited time unless the material is on Reserve.
    • Reserve items may be borrowed overnight by faculty only.
    • Destinos Spanish tapes may be borrowed overnight by students.
  • Entertainment Videos:
    • Entertainment Videos may be borrowed for a period of three days.
    • Two videos may be taken out at one time.
  • Magazines and Newspapers:
    • For library use only
    • Faculty and staff may borrow for a period of two days.
  • Reserve Items:
    • Most reserve items are for library use only for a period of two hours. If the loan period differs from this, in most instances it will be specified on the item.
    • Only one video may be borrowed at a time.
    • Three days are required for processing items for reserve.
    • Faculty requesting items to be placed on reserve must fill out a reserve request form.
    • The reserve list is kept at the circulation desk and is available through our Online Public Access Catalog.
    • Items can not be placed on hold if they are on reserve.

Borrowing Privileges:

Faculty, staff and students have borrowing privileges at Capital’s library and all Connecticut Community College Libraries. Books are circulated for 28 days and may be renewed if there is not a current hold. Faculty and staff have access to the collections of libraries which participate in the Council of Connecticut Academic Library Directors (CCALD) Reciprocal Library Borrowing Program. Many local academic libraries, including Trinity College, and The University of Hartford, participate in this program. To participate in this program, faculty and staff need to fill out an application form that is available at the circulation desk. We encourage all patrons to have a library card from their local public library. With a public library card you can borrow materials from any public library in the state and return materials to any public library.

Library Services

Reference Assistance

Reference Service is available during all open hours to assist faculty, staff and students with reference and research needs. There is also a reference assistance request form on the library web page, located at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/library/reference.htm . Faculty, staff and students can also call the library at (860) 906-5020 with reference questions.

Instruction Services

Librarians will instruct students in the range of methods available to access information. If your course includes a research component, we will instruct your students on how to best access information in that subject area. Librarians will help students to understand the “how’s and why’s” of database searching, how to effectively search using the library catalog, and the Internet as well as developing and using critical thinking skills. Librarians will instruct students in the evaluation of websites and other library sources. Research guides and pathfinders are created for each library instruction class. If you wish to schedule a library instruction class, please fill out a form online at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/library/libform.htm or contact Karen DeLoatch, Head of Library Instruction at 906-5022 or via email at kdeloatch@ccc.commnet.edu

Library Acquisitions

If you wish to have the library purchase materials for your courses, please contact Carl Antonucci, Director of Library Services at (860) 906-5021 or via e-mail at cantonucci@ccc.commnet.edu. You can also place requests in his mailroom box located on the 7th floor. Please Note: Textbooks are not purchased for every class taught at the college.

Interlibrary Loan

Books and journal articles may be requested from other libraries. The library is connected to thousands of other libraries throughout the country. Because materials can come from out of state interlibrary loans can take up to 2 weeks to arrive. Please stop by the library and fill out an interlibrary loan form or you can fill out the form electronically at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/library/illform.htm . This service is limited to faculty, staff and students of Capital Community College. If you have questions concerning interlibrary loan, please contact Lien Tran, Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Supervisor at 906-5026 or via e-mail at ltran@ccc.commnet.edu. If you need materials quickly, you can check other library catalogs to see where materials are located. Use the “Other Libraries” link from the library web page to use catalogs from other academic and public libraries.

Library Reserves

We can place various library materials on reserve, including journal articles, books, book chapters, videos, audiocassettes, CD’s and DVD’s. You can also place personal items on reserve for your classes. You cannot place books or journals checked out from other libraries on reserve. Please stop by the library to fill out a reserve form or fill out the form electronically at http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/library/reserves.htm . If you have questions concerning library reserves, please contact Lien Tran, Circulation and Interlibrary Loan Supervisor at 906-5026 or via e-mail at ltran@ccc.commnet.edu .

Electronic Library Reserves

During summer 2003, we began an Electronic Reserves pilot program. Reserve articles for the Nursing summer course were mounted electronically. Students enjoy the flexibility of having their reserves available electronically. Electronic reserves are available through the professor’s WebCT course shell. Students need their Banner ID and Banner Pin number in order to access electronic reserves. Students can access electronic reserves via any computer that has Internet access. If you wish to have articles, book chapters, class notes, exams or other printed materials scanned into electronic reserves, please contact Lien Tran at 906-5026 or via e-mail at ltran@ccc.commnet.edu. She would need designer access to your course shell in order to post materials.

Services for Distance Learners

Capital Community College Library provides a variety of services to distance learners:

  • Electronic Reference http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/library/reference.htm (faculty and students can email a reference question to a librarian)
  • Phone Reference (906-5020)
  • Web access to the library catalog
  • Remote access to the library databases
  • Online ordering from the bookstore
  • Library Skills Tutorial

To access these and other services, go to the Library Home Page and select Services for Distance Learning. From there, you simply choose the appropriate links. Remote access database instructions are available on the library webpage. Faculty and students can access this by clicking on the Banner Setup link which is listed under Library Information.

Photocopiers

The library has two coin operated photocopiers. All photocopies are 10 cents. One photocopier includes a bill changer that accepts 1 dollar and 5 dollars bills. The library does not provide change for photocopies.

Periodicals Reading Room

Newspapers and selected current periodicals are kept in the Journal Reading Room in the back of the library.

Print Reference Materials

The library collection contains numerous print reference sources from a wide range of subjects, including business and computer technologies, nursing and allied health, humanities, social sciences and science and math. Reference books have to be used in the library.

Paper Journals and Magazines

The library subscribes to over 350 paper journals and magazines covering all areas of the curriculum. Journals and magazines are shelved in alphabetical order. The most recent issues of 61 titles are kept in the Journal Reading Room, along with current and back issues of 6 daily newspapers. Journals, magazines and newspapers have to be used in the library. A complete listing of our journal holdings may be accessed through the Journal List link on the library website.

Computers

Students have access to numerous computers in the library. 12 computers can be used to access Microsoft Office products. These computers also have internet access. In order to use Microsoft Office computers, students have to login with their Banner ID and birth date. Handouts that explain login procedures are available at the reference desk. There are also 20 “Research Only” computers that can be used to access the Internet, the electronic card catalog and library and information databases. Microsoft Office products are not available on the “Research Only” computers.

On-Line Information Databases

The library has over 30 electronic information databases. From campus, our information databases are available at the Information Databases page. The majority of them are full text, meaning that the entire article is available via the database. This is very helpful to students because they do not have to see if the library owns the journal nor wait for an interlibrary loan article to arrive. Many full text articles are also available in PDF (Portable Document Format) and the article pages appear exactly the same as they would be found in the actual magazine article including illustrations, graphs and charts.

Please Note:

Electronic information databases can also be accessed remotely using a Banner ID and PIN number. Please see a librarian for a copy of the most current instructions.