Library Services

Please help us keep the library a good place to study and read by observing these rules:

• No liquids or food in the Library, especially near the computers!

• Please use hand sanitizer upon entering and exiting the Library.

• Sign in at the front desk and pick up a pass. Sign out and return pass at the end.

• Maintain at least 6 feet between you and the next person, in line or at tables.

• Beanbags and upholstered chairs are temporarily gone to discourage lounging in the stacks (trying to maintain personal space of at least a 6 foot radius).

• Feeling Sick? Please notify the Librarian immediately!

• Silence cell phones and take calls outside. No audio on music or videos. 

• Be respectful of all library users. Keep voices library low (not cafe low).

• Printing Policy: Our printing is free (paid by the District). Ink cartridges and paper are expensive items. To hold down costs, we ask that students print only what is needed for school work. Personal printing should be done at home. Please highlight the sections of articles you need and print only those selections. The printer cannot do double sided or color printing. Complete directions for printing to the PHS Library Student Printer appear above the screen on the computer. Print to a “Local Printer.” Do not print to the front desk unless you have asked the Librarian and it is an emergency. Print one copy of your paper only. If you need multiple copies for class, you must use the photocopier. Please ask the Librarian to photocopy your work for you.

Checkout and Renewal Procedures

• We have a generous checkout policy. Books may be checked out for three weeks and may be renewed unless the book has been placed on hold by another student. Please renew before the expiration to avoid weekly overdue notices. You can email to renew or speak to the library staff. We do not need the actual book. We can look at your record.

• At the end of each quarter and semester, students who have not returned library materials (including books, reference materials, and textbooks will receive LOST notifications requiring a replacement fine.

• Seniors with library materials outstanding will have transcripts and diplomas held until clear.

• Students pay fines at the end of the year for any lost or very damaged books.If the book is damaged, bring it to the Librarian in case we can repair it. If it can be repaired, you may not have to pay the full fine. Books with bad food stains, blood, bad water damage, covers ripped off, gnawed by animals, etc. will need to be disposed of and you will have to pay the full fine.

• You will receive a refund on a “lost” book you paid for, returned in good condition within one calendar year of its overdue date. After that time period, we still appreciate your returning books to the Librarian, but we have already purchased a replacement in most cases. 

• Our Special Collection, in the glass case by the door, is available for in-library use only. Please ask the Librarian to help you get a book from the case. 

Textbooks in the Library

You may check out a textbook to use in the library for one period only. Ask at the desk. Copies are limited and your choice may not always be available.

Library Use By Others

Priority for using the library, including library computers, is as follows:

1. Whole classes or small groups of students previously scheduled by their teacher.

2. Students sent by a teacher. Get a pass by signing in at the front desk. Return it to the front desk when you are finished in the Library. Quickly return to class.

3. Directed studies students working on a project. Pass from supervising teacher required.

4. You must have permission to use the Conference Rooms. Adult use is higher priority than student use. You must keep the blinds open. Erase the board and leave the room neat with no trash and chairs pushed in (One room is used by the Library Assistant and the other by the Drama Teacher so neither may be available). 

Resources For Writing Papers

• NoodleTools Tutorials -- set up your account and learn the tricks - needs link
• MLA Formatting and Style Guide
• Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab
• Parenthetical Citations
• Our Databases -- Reliable Resources 
• Biographical Resources 
• Evaluating Websites 
• 10 Ways to Spot a Fake News Article
• News Literacy, Fact Checking and Popping your Filter Bubble
• How to Avoid Plagiarism - Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services
• College Plagiarism... Why?
• Penalties of Copyright Infringement

Criteria for Evaluating Online Resources:

You can type almost anything in a web search engine and retrieve information; it is easy and fast and accessible 24/7. But, is the information accurate? Who wrote it? How recently has it been updated? Can you trust it? All these questions must be
answered by YOU, the internet searcher. The web does not have an editor! Print
publications (most of them anyway) go through an editing process to ensure the
information is accurate and credible. On the web, anyone can publish anything and
no one is checking for you to make sure the information is valid. When conducting
internet research for academic projects, you must hold the information you find to
a very high standard.

Ferret Out Fake News (from EBSCO, our largest research database)

How to Check Your Online Resources for Credibility. The CRAAP Test.

http://www.easybib.com/guides/students/writing-guide/ii-research/c-evaluating-sources-for-credibility/

UC Berkeley Library -- Evaluating Resources: Home

http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/evaluating-resources

Remember: Our subscription databases contain information already checked for reliability. It makes creating MLA 8 citations simple. Use NoodleTools to organize and ensure that your citations are formatted correctly.

Read the following criteria and apply them to any web sources you use for PHS research projects:

1.  Authorship: Who put up the site?

• The name of the individual or organization creating the site should be clearly stated.

• The site should list the credentials of the author, whether it be an individual or an organization.

• The site should provide a way for users to contact the author and to make comments or ask questions. 

2. Purpose: Every site has a reason for being on the web

• A site’s purpose should be clear and its content should reflect its purpose, be it to inform, entertain, persuade, educate or sell.

• Bias (if any) should be clearly stated through a mission statement or “about us” section or elsewhere on the site.

 

3. Content & Currency: Is the information authoritative and up to date?

 

• The information should be accurate and the site should be updated regularly, especially if the topic is time-sensitive.
• The site’s content should be easy to read and easy to understand by its intended audience.
• The site should offer enough information to make it worth visiting.

4. Technical Aspects

• A search function should be provided for sites with large amounts of information.

• You should not have to pay to view the information on the site.
• Spelling and grammar should always be correct.
• Links to more information should be provided.
• Graphics on the site should be relevant and appropriate to the content.
• Advertising should be limited.
Note: the websites you use for school research do not need to meet every one of
these criteria. However, the more of them a site does meet, the more likely it is to
be a credible, authoritative resource and the less likely it is that your teacher will
question it as a valid source.
Techniques for Web Evaluation:
1. Authorship: This is THE most important part of web evaluation! You must be
able to find out who (either a person or an organization) is responsible for
the information on the site. Try the following techniques:
• Look around the perimeter of the webpage and see if you can find links
that say “About Us” or “Philosophy” or “Background” or Who We are” etc.

• If you cannot find links of this sort, truncate back the URL by deleting
the end characters of the URL, stopping before each /. Press enter to
see if this brings you to a page with information about the author.
Continue the process on slash at a time until you reach the first single /
which is usually the home page of the site.
2. Credentials: Once you’ve figured out who authored the site (either an
individual or an organization), look for the credentials of that person or
organization. Decide whether the author is qualified to write about the
subject of the site.
3. Not sure if the author is qualified? Your next step is to see if the
information presented has been carefully documented or “cited.” This means
the author has given the source(s) for information presented on the website.
Check that the sources are valid. Are they from reputable reference books?
Scholarly journals? Websites of experts on the topic?
4. Still not sure about author credentials?
• Try googling the author to see what you can find out about the person
or organization. It helps to enclose the author’s name in quotes to find
an exact match. But, you need to evaluate this web source as well! Be
sure you are getting information about the author from a reputable
source.
• Learn what types of websites link to the site you’ve found. You can do
a link search in Google or Yahoo by typing in link: followed by the
URL of the site you’re investigating (no space between the : and the
start of the URL). This will show you all the sites that link to the site
you’re investigating. Ask yourself if these sites are reputable.
5. Read some “content pages” – those that give information about the topic of
the site. Does the information seem accurate based on what you already know
about the topic? Does it seem biased? Opinionated? Factual? If you do not
know anything about the topic, check the information on the site against
information from an established, reputable source such as an encyclopedia or
other reference book. Check the site’s mission statement for potential bias.

6. Check the last update: usually noted on the bottom of the home page but not
always – you may have to hunt for it! Note: Some reputable websites do not
include a date which can be frustrating.
7. Examine the URL: You can use the end of a domain name to help you judge the
validity of the information and the potential bias of the website. Remember,
this strategy is only a guideline. People can easily purchase domains that do
not reflect their actual purpose:
• .com = commercial sites (vary in their credibility – avoid for school
research)
• .gov = U.S. government site
• .org = organization, often nonprofit (Some .orgs are biased)
• .edu = school or university site (Was it created by a K–12 class? By
a college student? By a university department? By a scholar?)
• .store = retail business
• .int = international institution
• .ac = educational institution, usually higher education (like .edu)
• .mil = U.S. military site
• .net = networked service provider, Internet administrative site
• .museum = museum
• .name = individual Internet user
• .biz = a business
• .pro = professional’s site
• ~ = personal site (Be a little suspicious of personal sites. They are
not endorsed by the institution on whose server they reside. For
example, many college students have personal websites posted on
their college’s site.)
8. Putting it all together: If the website you found provides:
• author name, acceptable author credentials and a way to contact the author
• a clear statement of purpose or mission
• accurate information (as measured by the citations for information on the
site OR by what you already know about the topic OR by comparing it to
information from an authoritative source)
• up-to-date information
Then, you have probably found a good website for school research! If you are in
any doubt about the validity of information you find on the web, ask the librarian or your teacher or an outside expert on your topic.

Biographical Resources

Biographical Dictionary - Covers more than 28,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day

Biography.com

A database of 25,000 personalities. Brief but accurate information.

EBSCO Discovery Service (see Databases for link)

Library Print Resources: 

920 is collected biography books, e.g. women scientists, 18th century artists

921 is individual biographies

Use our catalog to search because there are some biographies in “sneaky places.” For example, we have some biographical information on scientists in the science section and historical figures such as presidents in the history section. Or, check in with our Reference Librarian at klevenson@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

Oakland Public Library Biography Resource Center

You need an Oakland Public Library card to use this valuable resource. 

Combines award-winning biographies with full-text articles from hundreds of periodicals. Search for people based on one or more personal facts such as birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender, or combine criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search.

Computer Acceptable Use Overview

School computers are to be used for educational purposes and limited high quality, personal development activities only.

Examples of unacceptable use are games, bulletin boards about games, fantasy leagues, real time sports, puzzles, shopping, personal email, instant messages, etc.

Prohibited uses:

• Posting personal information: phone number, address, etc.

• Making purchases online

• Logging in on someone else’s account

• Accessing another person’s files

• Changing system settings, file names or other settings; adding Netscape wallpaper, etc.

• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the network or other system

• Plagiarism—presenting someone else’s work as your own.
   

Personal computers (laptops) must be registered with the school Technology Coordinator and are subject to the Acceptable Use Policy.

All subscription resources are available to PHS Students with user ID and password.

Database passwords are on page 12 of the Planner and on the secure  Password web page.

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
From the 10th edition published in 1919, contains 11,000 searchable quotations

Classic Currency Converter
Use this to convert currency from one country to another.

Infoplease
Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Atlas, & Almanac

OneLook® Dictionary Search
Searches many dictionaries—easy and useful.

Zip Code Lookup and Address Information
A handy reference tool.

PHS was established about 100 years ago. The Library has been an integral part of the school since the beginning. It has changed locations and changed in terms of services over the years. It has a classical look to it thanks to the work of the WPA, including our Minstrels Gallery with our school motto: Achieve the Honorable.

If you look through our collection of yearbooks, you will see photos of the older libraries and of our Library Teaching Assistants through the years. Before the library was on the ground floor of the 30’s building, it was in what is now the Student Center. Before that, it seems to have been in the building that existed on the site of the current 30’s.

Our older wood chairs and tables have a cut out decoration of our school emblem, the Scottish Thistle. The chairs were commissioned and installed in about 1934. If you turn over one of these chairs, you may still see the paper delivery form marked with the year we received it.