Welcome to the AHS Library/Media Center

Burning Questions How do I get a pass to the library? How do I find a book? Where can I go to get good research material? How do I borrow a book? Can you help me with citations and setting up my research paper?

HOW DO I GET A PASS TO GO TO THE LIBRARY? You can obtain a pass to the library/media center, by going to the library in the morning before school, in between classes, or after school. You’re welcome to use the computers, read a book or work on your assignments. You will give the pass to your study teacher and he/she will sign it and put the time you left the class. When you come to the library give the pass to thelibrarian and sign your name. You are ready to go. You are expected to stay for the entire period. Block days are a bit more difficult as we limit the amount of passes because of the extended time and the amount of students who want to leave study. You can also come to the library to borrow a book. You can ask your study teacher for a written pass, and you will have 10 minutes to find a book and then return back to class.

HOW DO I FIND A BOOK? HOW DO I BORROW A BOOK? Of course you can ask the librarians, either Mrs. Bouchard or Mrs. Frenette, to help you find a book. Another way is to look it up on our online catalog. This catalog is web-based so you can access it anywhere. The icon for the catalog is on all the computers. The URL for the catalog is: https://sau81.follettdestiny.com/common/welcome.jsp?context=saas30_2800692 Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Graphic Novels On your desktop Non-Fiction, Biography, Memoirs, Reference. Let’s take a quick look at the catalog. Now you’re ready to borrow a book. Just bring it up to the circulation desk and give us your name. The librarians will check it out for you. You may have a book out for 2 weeks at a time. You can also renew your book up to 4 times if necessary. Even more, if you need it for a special class project. When returning a book you can just put it in the book return drop box or hand it over to a librarian.

FICTION – Call letters: FIC Alphabetical order by the author’s 3 first letters of last name. FIC KIN (Stephen King) Science Fiction – Call letters SF Fantasy Fiction – Call letter FAN FIC Graphic Novels – GN Short Stories – SC NON-FICTION – Call numbers: starting with 001 to 999 plus authors 3 first letters of last name, or editors, or book title. Biographies – 92 call number & Person the book is about (ex: Abraham Lincoln would be 92 LIN) Memoirs – MEM call letter (ex: Oprah Winphrey MEM WIN. Reference – REF 001 plus 3 first letter of title. Ex: Genetics and DNA (REF 553 GEN)

WAIT! What’s a Research Paper? A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation or argument. When you write an essay, you use everything that you personally know and have thought about a subject. When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in order to find the best possible information in that field. And that survey can be orderly and focused, if you know how to approach it. Don't worry--you won't get lost in a sea of sources. 

Where can I access reliable research material? Of course we have these things called BOOKS!! Reference and non-fiction material is still your best and quickest source for information. Using the index of a book is like using keywords online. Databases – What is the difference between a database and Google Chrome? You can access all the databases available to you from our collection on the card catalog icon. EBSCOHost – A database that contains magazines, newspapers, journal articles as well as photos, videos and graphs. Get the most current information on any subject. Gale Group – We have a total of 5 databases that we can access. Let’s take a look:

What can I do to avoid Plagiarism? What is Plagiarism? Plagiarism is the act of taking another person’s writing, conversation, song or even idea and passing it off as your own. This includes information from web pages, books, songs, television shows, email messages, interviews, articles, artworks or any other medium. Roger, copy that. What can I do to avoid Plagiarism? Planning your paper well is the first and most important step you can take toward preventing plagiarism. If you know you are going to use other sources of information, you need to plan how you are going to include them in your paper. This means working out a balance between the ideas you have taken from other sources and your own, original ideas. Turnitin is a tool we use to check your research paper for any question you or teacher have of plagiarism. When in Doubt, Cite Sources! – MLA and APA If it is unclear whether an idea in your paper really came from you, or whether you got it from somewhere else and just changed it a little, you should always cite your source. Instead of weakening your paper and making it seem like you have fewer original ideas, this will actually strengthen your paper Easy Bib: http://ww.easybib.com/ Citation Machine: http://www.citationmachine.net/

SETTING UP YOUR WORK CITED PAGE Put this page on its own sheet of paper at the very end of your paper Arrange the list alphabetically by author’s last name, or title if no author is listed. Double space the list and indent any lines after the first line of the citation. (5 spaces) Make sure to indicate if it is a Print resource or Web resource You should include all the resources you used, regardless of whether or not you directly quoted them/ Create your bibliography as you write your paper, instead of waiting until you are finished.

CITATION GENERATORS Easy Bib: http://www.easybib.com/ Citation Machine: http://www.citationmachine.net/ We hope that you all use the library and ask questions. The librarians are here to help you through all four years at Alvirne. GOOD LUCK FRESHMEN!