Penn State Altoona

User name: eichelibrarian

Reference librarians are located at the help desk across from the second floor circulation desk. During regular semester hours, help is available 9:00 am - 10:00 pm Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Friday, noon - 5:00 pm Saturday and 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm Sunday.

You can receive help two different ways from the Ask-a-Librarian web page. If you need help during the hours listed in the Virtual Reference Service box, please click on the link to be connected to a Penn State Librarian. If you do not need help immediately, please complete the Ask-a-Librarian form and a Penn State Altoona Librarian will respond usually within 24 hours. If you need assistance during regular library hours, feel free to call the Help Desk at (814)949-5253. You can also IM a Penn State Altoona Librarian with "eichelibrarian".

The library no longer has an actual card catalog. The catalog is now online and can be accessed by clicking on The CAT at www.libraries.psu.edu.

LIAS stands for the Library Information Access System and refers to the entire online Penn State University Libraries system, the online catalog (The CAT), the many databases and other online resources.

The CAT is the Penn State online catalog. It can be accessed by clicking on The CAT at www.libraries.psu.edu. When using The CAT, you can limit your search for books, videos, cds, etc. to either one campus/college location or to all the libraries in the Penn State system.

Click on The CAT at www.libraries.psu.edu. Type the title, author or subject of the materials you need. To limit your search by material type, go to Advanced Search, type in your topic, scroll down to material type, and select book, video, audio or whatever you need.

You need to write down (or print out) the Call Number and the Shelf Location. When you do a search on The CAT for library material, it will return with a list of all the titles that fill your request. Click on the blue DETAILS next to the title you want. The Call Number and Shelf Location will appear at the bottom of the screen.

How do I order books/video/ from other Penn State locations?

When you do a search on The CAT for library material, it will return with a list of all the titles that fit your request. Click on the blue DETAILS next to the title you want. When the DETAILS screen appears, a blue "I WANT IT" button will appear on the left hand side of the page. Click on the "I WANT IT" button, enter your ACCESS ID and password and select Penn State Altoona for your Pickup Location. This last step is very important. If you do not choose a Pickup Location, your material will automatically be sent to University Park. Click on Place Hold to complete your request.

How do you find an article?

Go to www.libraries.psu.edu and select Articles and More. Several good, general databases are listed under Try These First. If you need articles on a specific subject, try Find Articles by Subject. These databases are purchased from different sources and they all have different search scenarios. All databases will, at least, give you the information necessary to find the article (article title, author, journal name, date, page numbers, etc.). Some databases will also offer a full-text version of the article that you can print directly from the computer. If the article is not available in full-text, click on the "Get It" button to see if it is full-text in another database. If no full-text is available, click on the ILLiad link in the "Get It" results list and order the article.

How do you find a specific article?

If you have a citation and need to find the full-text of that article, go to www.libraries.psu.edu, click on Articles and More, then click on Citation Linker. Type the citation information into the form and click on GO. If the article is available in full-text in a Penn State database, you will get a link to that article. If full-text is not available, use the ILLiad link to request the article from another location.

Where are the magazines/newspapers/journals located in the library?

The current issues and past issues (bound like books) are located on the first floor of the library in alphabetical order . Some past issues are available only on microfilm/microfiche in the Microfilm Room (first floor).