Alden Library Services @ QCC Southbridge

The Alden Library staff is thrilled to be a part of this new adventure and we are looking forward to helping you and your students have a successful experience in this new location.

This set of questions and answers about the library services and resources for faculty and students at the new QCC Southbridge site is a “work in progress”. Updates will be issued after classes have started. A student version of this document will be supplied to students at that time.

Q. In general, what library services will be offered at QCC Southbridge?

A. Onsite and remote access to online reference and periodical databases is available, book delivery will be through the Jacob Edwards Library in Southbridge, and an Alden Library librarian will visit classrooms by appointment to offer assignment-specific library instruction.

Q. How will students and faculty get access to the online resources of the Alden Library?

A. The computers at QCC Southbridge will provide immediate electronic access to all the resources of the Alden Library, just as if they were on the Worcester campus, through the Web address:
 http://www.qcc.mass.edu/library.

From home, remote users will go to the library Website and choose the “Online Databases” option. They will be prompted for their name and identification number. For students, that can be one of two things. If they already have an Alden Library barcode acquired on the Worcester campus, they may use that, or students may use their student ID number to log in.

Faculty will need an Alden Library barcode to access databases remotely. That barcode can be requested by e-mailing Paula McDonald, the Circulation Manager, at paulam@qcc.mass.edu . The barcode number will be supplied to faculty by return e-mail and a card with the barcode on it will be mailed to you at your home.

Q. How will faculty and students get books from the Alden Library?

A. Anyone with any C/WMARS public library card may order QCC books to be delivered to any convenient public library in the system. Books ordered from QCC’s Alden Library will be delivered to any public library by the state funded delivery system.

As a result of our partnership with colleagues at the Jacob Edwards Library in Southbridge, any QCC student (or faculty member) who does not have a public library card may register for a free
C/WMARS card at that library, regardless of their home address. The Jacob Edwards Library, the public library in Southbridge, is located at 236 Main Street in Southbridge. Their website, which gives their open hours and contact information, is at: http://www.jacobedwardslibrary.org. Margaret Morrissey, the Jacob Edwards Library Director, and Corinna Tiberii, the Circulation Supervisor, are looking forward to seeing you and your students at their beautiful library near QCC Southbridge.

Q. How will I get videos or DVDs to show in the classroom?

A. First, faculty will need an Alden Library account that can be requested by e-mailing Paula McDonald, the Circulation Manager, at paulam@qcc.mass.edu . The barcode number will supplied to you over the phone and a card will be mailed to you.

Then, two weeks in advance of the showing date, request videos or DVDs directly from Paula McDonald who will check them out to your library account and mail the items directly to your home. After use, items can be given to the QCC Southbridge Site Administrator who will send them back to campus. We only loan instructional videos and DVDs to QCC faculty for classroom use so they cannot go through the same state delivery system used for books.

Q. What about students who have an Alden Library barcode on their student IDs?

A. Students taking classes at QCC Southbridge and on the Worcester campus will be issued a barcode at the Alden Library’s circulation desk for use in checking out books in the Alden Library on the Worcester campus, ordering books from other libraries to be delivered to the Worcester campus, and using the online resources remotely. In order to have QCC books delivered to a public library, students and faculty must have a current public library card.

Q. How will I arrange for a librarian to teach a library instruction session at QCC Southbridge?

A. The Library Instruction Session Request form can be found on the “Resources for Faculty” page of the Alden Library: http://www.qcc.mass.edu/library/Faculty_page.htm  or here: http://www2.qcc.mass.edu/library/onlineForms/LibInstSessFm/LibInstSessFm.asp
Because we must arrange for one of the librarians from the Worcester campus to go to Southbridge, we must have two weeks advance notice.

Q. How will you let students know about these services?

A. Once classes are in progress, we will give you a supply of handouts describing library services at QCC Southbridge that you may distribute to students. Southbridge site administrators will also have extra copies of the handout for students using the computer lab.

Q. Who should I contact with questions about these library services?

A. For general questions about library services:

 Contact the Reference Desk at (508)854-4366 or email reference@qcc.mass.edu

A. About matters relating to Circulation (library accounts and barcodes, ordering videos, etc.):

call Paula McDonald at 508.854.4581, or e-mail her at paulam@qcc.mass.edu.

A. About matters relating to library instruction or the use of databases and online resources:

call the Reference Desk at QCC (open whenever the Alden Library is open on the main campus) at 508.854.4366, or e-mail reference@qcc.mass.edu.

Q. Anything else I should know?

A.. There are computers in the public library that can be used by anyone with a valid current public library card (and no overdue books). Stay tuned for more information when the dust settles.

And best wishes for a productive and rewarding semester!

George I. Alden Library, Quinsigamond Community College, 670 West Boylston St., Worcester, MA 01606 (508) 854-4366