WCSU Faculty Handbook

Library Information and Procedures

Ruth A. Haas Library (Midtown) and Robert S. Young Library (Westside)

  1. Faculty Use of the Library

    1. A current Western Connecticut State University D. Or other photo I.D. must be presented to check out circulating library materials.
    2. All circulating books may be borrowed for an entire These items may be renewed by telephone, online, or at the circulation desk. Long-term use of circulating materials should be discussed with the Access Services Librarian at the Haas Library (203-837-9102), with the Circulation Desk Supervisor on duty at the Haas Library, or with the Business Librarian at the Young Library (203-837-9138).
    3. Videos, CDs and DVDs circulate for two weeks, with limited renewals. All DVD material is also available in streaming format on the university media server. There are no overdue fines charged for any WCSU Library circulating
    4. Arrangements for faculty use of non-circulating material (such as periodicals, reference books, government documents, archives, special collections,) should be discussed with the librarian responsible for those materials.
    5. Intra-Library Loan Requests facilitate borrowing library materials from the other CSCU These are initiated by using the “Request” feature in WestSearch.  Faculty use their Windows account authentication to complete the request.  Books are held at the circulation desk at either library for pick up for seven days.
    6. Faculty may make arrangements in advance for access to the libraries during non-scheduled periods by calling the Access Services Librarian (203-837-9102) at the Haas Library or the Business Librarian (203-837-9138) at the Young

  2. Reserved Materials for Course Use

    1. Materials to be put on reserve must be listed on “Reserve Request” forms that are available on the Library’s homepage and also at the Circulation desks at both Please indicate the category of in-house reserve materials:
      1. Closed Reserve (to be used in the library)
      2. Overnight Reserve (to be used in the library or to be signed out one hour before the library closes and returned within one hour after the library opens the following day)
      3. 3-Day Reserve (to be checked out for a 3-day period)
      4. 7-Day Reserve (to be checked out for a 7-day period)
    2. Faculty should place all materials on reserve at least two weeks before the items are needed to allow staff the time needed to process the Whenever possible, reserve requests should be submitted well in advance of the beginning of the semester.
    3. Materials will remain on reserve for one semester only, unless other arrangements are
    4. Arrangements to place periodicals, reference titles, and government documents on reserve should be discussed with the librarian responsible for those Faculty may copy journal articles and place them on reserve, or link to full-text articles available electronically through Blackboard. Due to copyright restrictions, however, only one photocopy of a journal article or book chapter will be placed on reserve without permission of the copyright owner. (See “Western Connecticut State University Policy on the use of Copyrighted Material”.)
    5. Faculty-owned items may be placed in the Reserve All materials placed on reserve should be brought to the Circulation/Reserve area two weeks prior to the beginning of the semester. Personal copies must be retrieved at the end of each semester.
    6. Faculty are asked to inform their students of procedures to obtain reserve Students must be currently enrolled to use reserve items and must present their WCSU I.D. card or other photo I.D. at the Haas or RSYL Circulation desk to check out the items. Both Library owned materials and Faculty owned materials are listed on WestSearch by instructor and course.

  3. Liaison Program

    1. The faculty of each department are assigned a librarian who acts as their liaison to facilitate the ordering of resources, provide library services; and generally to establish an ongoing partnership with teaching faculty and enhance faculty-library A current list of liaisons is available on the library’s website.

  4. Requesting Materials To Be Added To The Library’s Collection

    1. Requests for printed books, e-books, and other library materials should be submitted to the library liaison assigned to each academic To expedite ordering, as much information as possible should be given e.g., the author’s full name, complete title, publisher, date of publication and price (if known.) Requests may be sent by campus mail or e-mail.

  5. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) And the ILLiad System

    1. Items found in the WestSearch online catalog, but located at another CSCU library or the state library, may be requested directly online from the owning If a needed item is not found within the CSCU library system, our auxiliary interlibrary loan service—ILLiad—should be used.
    2. First time users may register for ILLiad from the library web Once established, an ILLiad account is used to place orders for all articles, and books that are not available in the CSCU system.  A link to ILLiad is available from within most of the library’s online databases by clicking on “Request interlibrary loan” under availability options.
    3. The average time it takes to receive a book requested through ILLiad is 7-10 Articles requested and received over the internet will usually arrive in just a few days and can be delivered electronically to the requester’s ILLiad account. A notification of arrival is sent by email to the requester which contains a link to his/her ILLiad account and the article itself.
    4. Other information about ILL is available from the Library’s homepage or at the Reference and Circulation desks at both the Haas and Young

  6. Digital Repository

    1. The library hosts a digital repository, WestCollections, which showcases the intellectual output of the university community. Faculty may submit scholarly work such as journal articles, working papers, book reviews, books and/or book chapters, conference or other professional/academic presentations, technical papers, educational materials, images, and video/audio Students may submit dissertations and theses, capstone projects, and other faculty approved research. Further information may be obtained about WestCollections from the Public Services Librarian (203-837-9141).

  7. Reference & Electronic Database Search Services

    1. Reference librarians are available to assist and instruct users in identifying and obtaining appropriate Access to over one hundred electronic databases and the Internet is available from the Library’s homepage. Wireless access is available throughout the libraries.

  8. Library Instruction

    1. The library faculty welcomes requests for class instruction designed to help students understand how to research specific topics through the use of Library resources and Presentations utilize a variety of print and electronic sources of information. Each class is tailored to the specific needs of the faculty member’s assignment. Sessions are conducted by the department’s library liaison and may be held in the faculty member’s classroom or in one of the libraries’ classrooms. Hands-on practice in a computer-equipped laboratory setting is available upon request. Scheduling is on a first-come-first-served basis. The Library faculty asks that classroom faculty request library instruction at least two weeks in advance of the proposed date of instruction.

  9. Collections

    1. Online databases, indexes and reference sources are available via any networked computer on campus or the You gain access to restricted databases by entering your windows account information.
    2. Collections serving Management, Marketing, Management Information Systems, Finance and Accounting are held in the Robert Young Business Library on the Westside campus. All other collections are housed in the Ruth Haas Library on the Midtown campus.

  10. Curriculum Collection

    1. The Curriculum Collection makes available for review and analysis a current collection of high quality preK-12 instructional This collection supports the education curriculum of WCSU, and serves education students & faculty, pre-and in-service teachers and the greater university community. Access and effective use are promoted through information dissemination, collection management, user education, and outreach activities.
    2. Circulating print volumes can be checked out for a period of 28 DVDs, VHS videos, and CDs circulate for 14 days; teaching kits can be checked out for 7 days. Reference materials such as encyclopedias are for use in the Library.  Certain items, such as assessment tools and selected kits, have been placed on reserve in the Circulation Department.  All circulating kits containing multiple loose parts are stored behind the Circulation Desk of Haas Library.

  11. Seminar Rooms/Classrooms–Haas Library

    1. There are three seminar rooms, one classroom and one computer-equipped teaching lab that can be reserved by faculty at the Ruth Haas Library. The classroom and teaching lab may be reserved on a first-come-first-served basis after mid-semester by calling the Haas Reference desk at 203-837-9110. The second floor seminar rooms and the 5th floor meeting room may be reserved by calling the Access Services Librarian at 203-837-9102.

  12. University Libraries

    1. The Ruth Haas Library (1969/2000) is a 93,000 sq. ft., six-level structure facing the academic quadrangle on the Midtown campus. The Library contains approximately 200,000 volumes, approximately 200 current print periodical subscriptions, an extensive reference collection, bibliographic, full-text and image databases, music scores and recordings, video, DVD, CD, audio tape, and LP collections, and University archives and special collections. Designated a Federal Depository Library, the facility maintains a government documents collection that supports the University’s offerings.
    2. Rooms for individual and group study, public lectures, conferences, seminars, library instruction, and media presentations are For more information and/or to reserve a space, contact the library administrative office at 203-837-9107.
    3. The Archives and Special Collections Library is located in the lower level of the Ruth Haas Library. The Archives contains official records, publications, and miscellanea related to the history of the University and also has significant holdings related to local history. Please see WCSU’s Archives and Special Collections online for collection lists, searching, and more information regarding content and access to these materials. The Special Collections Library includes WCSU’s rare books, faculty published monographs, WCSU Master’s theses and dissertations, and a large collection of Connecticut history titles ranging from the 17th century to the present.  Special Collections Library holdings are searchable in WestSearch.
    4. The Robert Young Library is located on the 4th floor of the Westside Classroom Building, home of the Ancell School of Business. The Library contains 6,000 business books and reference materials, journal subscriptions, and access to a large number of electronic business, general, and law-related databases.