Robert E. Eiche Library   Penn State Altoona

Loan periods are the length of time library items can be borrowed. Listed below is the loan period breakdown for all library users.
Loan periods: 28 days for undergraduates

Semester for graduate and honor students

Semester for faculty and staff

28 days for PA residents

Borrowed material can be renewed via the Web at http://www.libraries.psu.edu, click on “My Library Account” icon, by telephone at 814-949-5256 or in person at the Circulation desk.

The designated status of a library user determines the loan period and number of items that he or she can borrow.

Charge limit: 100 items for undergraduates

200 items for graduate students

200 items for faculty and staff

20 items for all others (ResidentPA)

Yes. Materials borrowed from any University library and returned to Eiche Library (or any University library) will be treated as though they were returned to their owning library on that date.

A borrower may renew all regular loans twice without actually bringing the material into the library. This may be done in person, by phone (949-5256) or through the CAT. If they want to keep the item for a third renewal, they will have to bring the material into the library to be discharged. If there are no holds (someone else wants it) on the material they can check it out again and the two-renewal process will go into effect.

Fines vary by the type of material borrowed and its loan period. See the Lending Code for a full rundown of possible fines.

Library materials are stored on shelves called stacks, which are arranged in call number order (more on that later). The stacks are sub-divided into six areas, which are listed below in the order they appear on the floor starting with the lower shelves.

Blue: Multimedia Collection – Collection of videos, DVDs, audiocassettes, and CDs.

Purple: Periodicals Shelves - Periodicals include newspapers, magazines and journals and can’t be taken from the library without special permission.

Yellow: Indexes - Indexes are guides, which direct you to other resources such as books and periodical articles. These do not circulate without special permission. Oversize Collection - These are books that are too large to fit in the regular circulating collection. They are labeled with a "Q" and can circulate for regular loan periods.

Lavender: Circulating Collection – Regular circulating collection. Loan periods are designated by the users profile.

Pink: Juvenile Literature Collection - This area houses library materials for young children and are labeled with a "JL” before the call number. These items can be borrowed for regular loan periods.

Green: Reference Collection – This is a collection of research resources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias and subject specific materials. These items do not circulate without special permission.

We have a variety of equipment that can be borrowed by a library user. These include:

· Audiocassette recorders, CD players, videocassette recorders and DVD players are available on the first floor of the library. Calculators are available at the second floor Circulation Desk and must be checked out with a Penn State ID.

· Microfilm and microfiche readers are available for use in the microfilm room located to the right of the circulation desk on the first floor. Microfilm/fiche copies are available for 10 cents per copy.

· There are two Xerox machines,one located on each floor. The photocopiers require a fee of ten cents per copy. If a student opts to use lion cash, copies are 5 cents per copy.

· A coin machine is available on the second floor. The machine makes change for dollars only. If a patron needs change for larger bills, contact the circulation supervisor.

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 - 9:00 pm Monday-Thursday, 9:00 am -5:00 pm Friday, noon - 5:00 pm Saturday and 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm Sunday.

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.

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.

Go to www.libraries.psu.edu and select 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.

If you have a citation and need to find the full-text of that article, go to http://www.libraries.psu.edu/, 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.

The current issues are located in the magazine rack on the second floor 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).

Amy Deuink or Jeff Knapp
Robert E. Eiche Library
Penn State Altoona
3000 Ivyside Park
Altoona, PA 16601

(814)949-5252
(814)949-5493