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The QCC faculty are our best “customers” and we want to
make using the Alden Library easy for you. Most of our circulation policies
are determined by the CWMARS consortium but we can sometimes make local
exceptions to better serve you. Please ask!
Why do I need an Alden Library account?
How do I
get a library account?
What Alden Library
materials may I check out?
How
long may I borrow books?
How long may I borrow videos?
How many
books may I check out?
What’s a
delinquent account?
How do I
borrow a book from another C/WMARS library?
Is it possible for me or my students to use other Worcester area college
libraries that are not in CWMARS?
What if I want to borrow from a Massachusetts state-supported college which
is not in C/WMARS or ARC?
What is the
Virtual Catalog?
How do I go about borrowing materials from libraries outside of the
Commonwealth?
What do I do if I can’t find what I need?
Why do I need an Alden Library account?
The Alden Library is a member of CWMARS, a library
network serving over 140 libraries in central and western Massachusetts. The
shared online catalog is the gateway to the Alden Library with its
collection of 50,000 items, and allows access to over 1.4 million items owned
by the CWMARS network. In addition, the Alden Library provides hundreds of
full text periodical and reference databases provided by the state or
purchased with library operating funds. In order to check out materials from
the Alden library, order books from other libraries, and access the many
online databases from home, you must have a current Alden Library card with
a barcode attached.
How do I
get a library account?
Stop by the Library circulation desk (HLC - 2nd floor)
to register for a library account. In addition to using it to check out
books and videos, the barcode on your library card is your passport to
remote (home) access to all of the Alden Library's online reference and
periodical databases. If you don't have a QCC Faculty ID, please plan to
show a photo ID and we will look you up to verify that you are teaching this
semester and will issue you a temporary library card. It's quick and easy!
Please remember not to let another individual check out
materials using your library card. If materials are lost or damaged, the
account of the person whose card was used will be billed for replacement
charges.
What Alden Library
materials may I check out?
- Circulating books
- Faculty (only) may check videos out of the Library
for the purpose of previewing (24 hours) and showing the video in a QCC
class (one week).
- Videos placed on reserve may not be checked out of
the building except by the faculty member who placed them on reserve.
Videos shared by multiple faculty members may be checked out of the
building for same day use.
- Reference books and periodicals do not normally
leave the library but, by special arrangement with a reference
librarian, faculty may remove reference books or periodicals (popular
magazines, professional journals, newspapers) for two hours in order to
make photocopies.
How
long may I borrow books?
- QCC Faculty may check out circulating books for
one semester with one renewal of one semester.
- You must return all books to the Alden Library
each year by the May graduation date. If you will need the same books
for the summer, they can be checked out again at that time.
- Books are subject to recall if needed by a QCC
student or another QCC faculty member.
- Departing faculty and staff are expected to return
all library materials, including interlibrary loans, on or before their
final day of employment.
How many
books may I check out?
- QCC Faculty may check out a total of 20 books at
one time.
- No books may be checked out if your library
account is delinquent.
How long may I borrow videos?
- Videos may be checked out of the Library by
faculty for the purpose of previewing (24 hours) and showing the video
in a QCC class (one week).
- Extensions on this borrowing period may be made by
the Library's Circulation Manager on a case by case basis.
- Videos placed on reserve may not be checked out of
the building except by the faculty member who placed them on reserve.
What’s a
delinquent account?
- The account of any borrower with a book which is
more than three weeks overdue will be considered delinquent.
- There are no fines for overdue books but no
additional books will be checked out to borrowers with overdue or lost
books.
- Delinquent borrowers will receive a bill for the
cost of the book plus a $10 processing fee which will only be cleared by
returning the book or paying for it. Out-of-print books will be billed
at the rate of $30 for hardback and $10 for paperback.
- Books which are returned but are damaged beyond
being useable will be handled as lost.
- Lost books which have been paid for and are
subsequently found in good condition may be returned for credit for
replacement fees (not processing fees) without time limitation.
- Checks for replacement costs and applicable fees
for lost or damaged books belonging to other libraries must be made out
directly to the originating library. The QCC Circulation Manager will
mail the check directly to the other library.
How do I
borrow a book from another C/WMARS library?
- Any currently registered Alden Library patron may
place an online request for any book which is available for circulation
in the C/WMARS system. Request information on this process from the
librarian at the Reference desk.
- Due to the size and diversity of C/WMARS, services
may vary at member libraries. QCC students, faculty, and staff who are
planning to travel to use the services at another C/WMARS library are
encouraged to check with that library before making a special trip.
C/WMARS public libraries will often require that Alden Library patrons
register for a public library card in order to check out materials.
- QCC students, faculty and staff who use their
current QCC library card to check books out of another C/WMARS library
are subject to the originating library’s rules regarding fines and loan
periods.
- Any C/WMARS book can be returned to any C/WMARS
library.
- Fines for books borrowed by QCC patrons from
C/WMARS libraries that collect fines can be paid in any C/WMARS public
library.
- Checks for lost or damaged books belonging to
other libraries must be made out directly to the originating library.
The Alden Library Circulation Manager will mail the check directly to
the other library.
Is it possible for me or my students to use other Worcester area college
libraries that are not in CWMARS?
Most of the colleges in Worcester are in the Academic
and Research Collaborative (ARC), a consortium of central Massachusetts
academic libraries.
- In order to borrow from other ARC libraries,
currently registered Alden Library patrons must obtain an ARC card from
the Alden Library Circulation Desk. ARC cards will only be issued to QCC
students, faculty and staff whose Alden Library accounts are not
delinquent.
- QCC faculty and students have borrowing privileges
from other ARC academic libraries (except Clark University and
the University of Massachusetts Medical School) when they present the
ARC card and their current valid QCC student or faculty/staff ID.
- QCC faculty or students wishing to borrow a
specific book from Clark University must take an ALA form for a
specific book from the Alden Library and present it to the Clark
University Library circulation desk with her or his ARC card and
current valid QCC faculty or student ID.
- The University of Massachusetts Medical School
does not participate in the ARC cross borrowing program for students
or faculty.
- Materials borrowed from other libraries are
subject to the originating library’s rules regarding fines and loan
periods.
What if I want to borrow from a Massachusetts state-supported college which
is not in C/WMARS or ARC?
- The Massachusetts Conference of Chief Librarians
of Public Higher Education Institutions (MCCLPHEI) have agreed to extend
borrowing privileges to any current faculty member or currently
registered student of any other MCCLPHEI college.
- QCC students, faculty and staff must present a
current valid QCC ID card.
- Each MCCLPHEI institution has its own borrowing
policies which may differ from QCC policies. QCC library patrons using
other libraries will need to abide by the guest library policies and may
want to call ahead to determine what those policies are.
What is the
Virtual Catalog?
After you have searched the QCC holdings in the online
catalog, the “All Central MA Libraries” link, and the CWMARS Union Catalog,
another place to try is the Virtual Catalog. This resource is a network of
all the Massachusetts networks. It is important to remember that many large
private colleges are not in a network. You are most likely to be successful
finding a book in the Virtual Catalog if you know exactly the book you need.
How do I go about borrowing materials from libraries outside of the
Commonwealth?
Use interlibrary loan
(ILL) to request materials not available in a Commonwealth library. We order
books for faculty from libraries all over the country and around the world.
- An Interlibrary Loan Request Form is available on
the Alden Library Website. ILL request forms are also available at the
Reference Desk.
- No interlibrary loan will be processed for patrons
with delinquent accounts.
- Materials borrowed from other libraries are
subject to the originating library’s rules regarding fines and loan
periods.
- Checks for lost or damaged books belonging to
other libraries must be made out directly to the originating library.
The Alden Library Circulation Manager will mail the check directly to
the other library.
What do I do if I can’t find what I need?
Call your colleagues in the Alden Library. If it
exists, they can find it. Academic Librarians are highly trained specialists
in information retrieval and ours are some of the best. You can’t be
expected to know what they have spent a career learning. Call the Reference
Desk at 508.854.4366 during any of the 67 hours a week that the library is
open or e-mail
reference@qcc.mass.edu and someone will get back to you promptly.
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