The ASMSA Library Research Center is intended as a quiet place for reading, research, and study. Our mission is to provide access to information that will support and foster the goals of ASMSA, both in the academic and residential areas. We strive to develop a collection that will enrich our students' experience and to provide materials that will help our students, faculty, and staff create and sustain a vibrant and academically challenging environment.
We maintain an extensive collection of research materials, including more than 10,000 volumes, dozens of academic journal subscriptions, access to electronic databases, and a growing audio/visual collection. We also coordinate our research with the University of Arkansas-Little Rock as a way to expand our students' access to college-level resources.
The library maintains collections of student work, including paper copies of research projects in math and science and websites on the history of Arkansas. Hard copies of all past Science Fair and Fall Math projects are housed in the periodicals room of the library. Senior theses can be found in our special collections area. Paper copies of projects cannot be checked out and are for library use only. Please do not make photocopies of projects from the archives.
The library is located on the fourth floor of the Residential Building and is open seven days a week for student use.
Staff:
Beth Gourley, Head Librarian
Regina Beard, Library Media Assistant
Martin Valdivia, Library Media Specialist
Phone: 622-5250
Library Hours:
The ASMSA Library is open for study and research seven days a week when school is in session and the residence halls are open. The library and computer lab are closed for holidays.
Sunday: 3-9 p.m.
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Please remember that 7 to 9 p.m. are study hours in the library. This means no game-playing, chatting, or email on the lab computers. Students should keep their voices low for the consideration of others.
Search the ASMSA Library Catalog
Research and Library Instruction
LIBRARY EXPECTATIONS
The library is a STUDY AREA. Please work and talk quietly for the consideration of others.
Group work on computers should be limited to three people. You should use the computers nearest the wall or at the back of the library.
Drinks are allowed at study desks as long as they are in spill-proof containers with lids. No drinks are allowed near the computers. Please clean up after yourself!
Absolutely no food is allowed in the library.
No online chatting, game-playing or emailing during study hours.
During other library hours, computer use priorities are as follows:
- Schoolwork (research, projects, papers, group work, etc.)
- Email related to schoolwork
- Emailing, chatting, game-playing
During busy times, we reserve the right to ask you to forfeit your machine to a student who needs it for schoolwork.
Cell phones cannot be used in the library. If phone use is absolutely necessary, you must get permission from the library staff first.
BORROWING PRIVILEGES
The following list provides a basic overview of policies regarding circulation of library materials:
Borrowing Periods
Faculty may request to keep materials beyond the usual limits. Ask the library staff for details.
No library materials may be checked out for summer use.
Eligible Borrowers
Any ASMSA student, staff, or faculty member is eligible to:
- borrow materials from the library
- use our online subscription databases
- request materials from interlibrary loan.
Renewals
Library materials may be renewed as long as no other student has requested them. You do not need to bring materials to the library to renew them, unless you want them to be stamped with the new due date. Ask a member of the library staff for help with renewals.
Overdue Fines
General circulation materials, DVDs, audiobooks, journals, and magazines have an overdue fine of $.10 a day. Reference and interlibrary loan materials will cost $1 per day when they are overdue.
Overdue fines of more than $10 may result in the denial of library privileges. Students must pay fines before leaving campus at the end of the school year.
Course Reserves
Faculty and the library staff may place books on reserve for special projects and courses. Books on reserve will have special circulation restrictions or may be restricted to library-only use.
RESEARCH TOOLS
Databases
ASMSA provides access to a variety of online databases for student use. These databases can be used to find articles in journals and magazines. They can be accessed in the library, in computer labs across campus, and in student dorm rooms, but you must use the corresponding UserID and Password.
A list of IDs and passwords are available at the Circulation Desk in the Library.
View Databases
Don't Forget - If you an enrolled in concurrent credit courses through UALR, you can also do research using their databases.
Do you have a UALR StudentID?
- If so, the 14-digit library card number you need is printed on the back.
- If not, ask the library staff for your T-Number. We will help you set up and access the account you need to retrieve your 14-digit library card number.
Once you have your number, click here to start researching on UALR databases.
If you aren't registered in a concurrent credit course, please see the librarian about alternative research sources.
Works Cited Help
The Humanities Department recommends using Diana Hacker's website for help with in-text and bibliographic citations.
You can also use any of the alternative sites for more information:
- All Styles (easy to follow format): http://www.wisc.edu/writing/
- MLA Style: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html/
- APA Style: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
For more complex citations or more obscure sources, you can refer to research guides from APA or MLA, which can be found in the library. Ask a member of the library staff for help.
If using MLA, you may want to use ready-made citation-creating engines, which will create a works cited list for you: http://www.easybib.com/
Search the UALR Ottenheimer Library Catalog
RESEARCH AND LIBRARY INSTRUCTION
During the school year, the library staff provides instruction in research skills and effective use of the library. Most general instruction occurs as a regularly scheduled part of a course taken by all students. Other subject specific instruction may be requested by the teacher.
Fall Semester – Juniors will attend courses in the library in connection to their RTT courses. Topics covered during these sessions will include:
- Creating a list of search terms
- Finding useful books in the library
- Using a variety of online databases to find academic journal articles
- Completing interlibrary loan requests for sources not available in our library.
Spring Semester – As part of Junior FIRM, students will complete a Research Guide workbook as an early form of research for their Science Fair projects. These workbooks build on the skills learned during RTT courses with a specific emphasis on finding resources for their long-term projects.
- Research Topics (Humanities and Social Science)
- Experimental Topics (Mathematics and Sciences)
Subject Specific
To arrange instruction on research sources related to a specific course, please contact the library staff. Instruction may take place in the library or in the classroom.
DONATING TO THE LIBRARY
The ASMSA Library welcomes donations from individuals and groups. Donations enhance the strength of the library’s collections and support the instructional and research programs of the school and are therefore greatly appreciated. The library, however, reserves the right to make a final selection of any materials that will be added to the collection. The library also reserves the right to withdraw materials from the collection when they are no longer appropriate under the collection policy.
Donated materials are defined as [a] previously owned books or other materials appropriate to the library holdings and [b] new materials sent unsolicited to the library, usually from an organization or government agency.
People wishing to donate should contact the library staff: 501.622.5250.
- All donations become property of the ASMSA Library, and the library staff will decide whether or not to add the donated materials to the library collection.
- Any materials the library agrees to accept may be added to the collection, exchanged, given to other libraries or discarded.
- The library does not accept donations of encyclopedia sets, old textbooks, highlighted books, magazines or LP recordings.
- Gift items will be acknowledged and may be designated by a bookplate.
- The donor may request a receipt for tax purposes. A representative of ASMSA can issue a receipt, but the exact value of the donation cannot be determined by ASMSA.
Before the library agrees to receive donations, please submit an itemized list including title, author and year of publication of the book(s) you want to donate. This allows the library staff to ascertain which titles support the library's mission and which could be better used by another organization.