Types of Information at the Library
Before we begin our discussion of how to search for and access library information, let's explore the many different types of resources available in the modern-day library. These diverse resources are all available to GCC students, faculty, and staff for free. Some are available exclusively online and some are available in print. Below is a list of the most common types of information resources we carry at the library along with information on how you can access these resources.
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Books |
Libraries are perhaps best known for their collections of books. Books are a great resource because they are able to delve deeply into a topic and provide a lot of great information in detail. The bulk of our physical collection is books which number over 100,000 items. We also have a very large collection of eBooks that can be accessed online.
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Articles Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Magazines Newspapers Reference |
Perhaps the largest portion of our collection consists of articles. There is a large variety article types, which will be explored on the following page of this tutorial. All articles typically consist of one to several pages of printed text and are part of a larger magazine, journal, newspaper, or reference material. While we carry some physical articles in the library, the bulk of our collection of articles is found online. |
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Video |
The library has a large number of popular, educational, and documentary videos. These videos offer the unique opportunity to approach research topics from an audio-visual perspective rather than simply from reading text. At the library, we have a large number of DVDs and BluRay titles available for checkout. We also have a large collection of streaming videos that can be accessed from the library website. |
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Music/Audio |
The library also boasts both a substantial CD collection featuring both popular music and diverse music from across the globe. As well, the GCC Library has a large collection of streaming audio news programs from NPR that can be found through the library One Search box. |
