Library

About the Library

We house 18,000+ books and provide access to over a million digital volumes and many more articles from peer reviewed journals, magazines, newspapers, dissertations, government publications, etc. Read more about the library’s mission, services, and procedures below. Or, start your research now by selecting one of the options above. If you need further assistance, our contact information can be found below.

The mission of the Black River Technical College Library is to enhance learning by providing access to information that complements and supplements the college’s educational programs and courses.  The library seeks to provide ready access to information in a variety of formats so that students may successfully meet their academic, vocational, and personal development goals.

  • Quality service
  • Approachable personnel
  • Ease of access to information
  • Inclusion of new technologies
  • Efficiency
  • Professionalism

Computers in the library are available for public use during library hours. Two computers are available for public use during library hours. Headphones are available to listen to audio or video without disturbing other patrons.

Reserve items are available at the circulation desk.

Orientation sessions are offered upon request and printed guides are available which explain library policies and guide patrons in the use of the library.  In addition, students can find additional information about the library and its resources in the FAQs below.

Distance learners enrolled at the college are provided with detailed information for accessing the online catalog and the Internet databases through the library’s homepage.  Usernames and passwords for online services are provided in the "Library Resources" page in Moodle. Students are also encouraged to contact the library for assistance with research questions.

A student ID must be presented each time a BRTC patron checks out materials. A driver’s license must be presented each time a community patron check out materials. Note: you are responsible for materials in your possession. Fines may be assessed for materials that are overdue, damaged, or lost.

A limit of 5 items may be checked out at any time and books may be checked out for a two-week period with one renewal. Reference materials, reserve items, and periodicals must be used in the library only.

All library materials must be returned at the end of each semester/term before grades can be received, transcripts sent, etc.

Books and journal articles which the library does not own can usually be obtained through inter-library loan if enough prior notice is given - usually 10 days. Contact the library director if you have a need for this service.

When materials are returned to the library, they should be placed in the return bin at the circulation counter. An after-hours book depository is also located at the front entrance of the library.

Food and drinks are allowed in the library. We request, however, that you keep drinks away from the computers. There is plenty of seating and tables where you can relax and enjoy a snack or drink.

Fall & Spring Hours

Monday - Friday
7:30 AM - 4:00 PM

Summer Hours

Monday – Thursday
7:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Hours subject to college schedule
Closing hours sometimes vary
Holiday Hours as posted

The BRTC library is committed to pursuing and upholding the principles of intellectual freedom for its students and faculty. These rights have been thoroughly discussed and endorsed by library professionals. To read more about these principles and values, start with these founding documents. (ALA-Library Bill of Rights)

The BRTC library is committed promoting and facilitating the free flow of and the free access to materials that express varying viewpoints on particular disciplines and subjects germane to course offerings or to topics of general education interests. Exposure to opposing or differing viewpoints is essential for the development of critical thinking skills and for the kind of broad knowledge base characteristic of a higher education.

The BRTC library also supports the freedom to discuss differing or opposing viewpoints, in its provided study spaces, without fear of censorship or academic repercussions. In keeping with principles of civility, we do insist that all discussions be conducted respectfully and we reserve the right to restrain offensive speech, whether in vernacular or meaning.

Our commitment to these values is reflected in the library\’s selection policies, which are intended, in part, to safeguard against intentional or inadvertent censorship. The selection of any materials to be placed in the library’s holdings does not, therefore, constitute an endorsement of the ideas contained within them. Selections are based on academic quality and noted contribution to the field or subject of the material. A part of this “noted contribution” is the aim for diversity of thought for the sake of intellectual and academic freedom and a well-rounded presentation of ideas.

Student Resources

Books & eBooks

KOHA (books)

EBOOK CENTRAL
Collection from ProQuest providing access to about a million authoritative ebooks from the world’s top publishers on a range of subjects: arts, business management, education, general knowledge, health & medicine, history & political science, law, literature & language, religion & philosophy, science & technology, and social science.

GALE DISCOVERING
Collection Two small collections of reference books and directories. Requires login.

Databases

Quick Links

InfoBase

Spanish

ProQuest Individual Databases

Newspapers

The BRTC library has subscriptions to the following online newspapers. Usernames and passwords for various databases are available in Moodle in the ”Library Resources” page. 

Open Education Resource

Open Textbook Library
Open educational resources provided by the Open Education Network.

OPENSTAX
Peer reviewed open access textbooks.

MERLOT
One of the better known OER repositories.

DIRECTORY OF OPEN ACCESS BOOKS
Large repository of academic and peer reviewed books.

OER COMMONS
OERs for all levels of education.

TEACHING COMMONS
Open access materials provided by leading colleges and universities.

Other Open Access Resources

  • MOM – Federated search engine of popular OER repositories. Provided by George Mason University. Will include results for all levels of education, not just higher.
  • OASIS – Openly Available Sources Integrated Search
  • CORA – Community of Online Research Assignments. Resources for faculty and librarians.
  • Smithsonian Open Access – Search Smithsonian image library.
  • Unsplash – Large collection (over 3 million) of freely usable images.
  • New York Times Public Domain Images – Free images from the NYT\’s archives.
  • Project Gutenberg – Public domain books.
  • CCEL – Public domain classic Christian books.
  • Wikimedia Commons – Freely usable media files from Wikipedia articles.
K-12

World Book

FAQs

The library is located on the Pocahontas campus. It is adjacent to the Academic Complex, at the southwest corner of the campus, just off Hwy 304 East. Parking is available on the west side.

Any student, faculty, or staff of Black River Technical College has privileges to use the library. Your BRTC ID also functions as a library card.

Members of the community with a valid driver’s license and email address may also use the library.

The BRTC library provides access to 18,000+ books, over 1 million eBooks, 100+ magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and over 80 databases with access to millions of digital articles, videos, images, etc.

We also provide access to computers with internet connections, printing, and copying services. (No color copy or printing)

We have lots of public seating and tables for reading, studying, or just conversing plus 4 individual study rooms and 1 collaboration room equipped with smart TV, computer, and internet access.

We also have one classroom that can be reserved.

The library has recently added a relaxation room and a children's reading room. The children's reading room has books, toys, and furnishings appropriate for preschool children. The room has glass walls so children can be visually monitored by parents at all times.

No.

Books in our core collection can be borrowed from the library. Materials in the reference collection cannot be borrowed except by special permission from the library director.

Materials are usually loaned for 2 weeks with one renewal option (total 4 weeks).

Beyond the 4 weeks maximum loan period, an overdue fee of $0.10 per day, per item will be assessed until the item is returned.

Items can be handed to library staff at the circulation desk, placed in the return slot at the circulation desk, or deposited in the outside return box, just in front of the library’s entrance.

Yes! Some databases will require you to login. Username and passwords are provided in the "Library Resources" page in Moodle.

Yes, connect to ”BRTC Guest.” (No password required)

No. You can use a flash drive or email the file to yourself and use one of the library’s computers to print.

The BRTC library participates in the ARKLink consortium and can provide you an ARKLink card that grants privileges to use resources from other participating libraries.

We can also borrow materials through the Inter-library Loan program. Please allow 7-10 days to process requests.

You can contact the library for additional help.

Contact us.  Our information is below.

Tutorials

RESEARCH COMPANION

  1. From the library’s home page, click the link near the top that says “Books.” (This will open the OPAC page where you can search for a book.)
  2. To do a basic search, type some keywords in the search box near the top of the page and press enter or the “Go” button. (The results are displayed bellow the search box.)
  3. You can also specify which field you want to search. Go back to the search box and where it says “Catalogue,” pull down the menu and select which field you want to search. Usually this will be Title, Author, or Subject.
  4. Enter your keywords again in the search box and press enter or “Go.”
  5. When you find a book you want, click on the title to open its record.
  6. What you need is the call number that tells you where the book is shelved in the library. There are 2 places where this can be found.
  7. First, is the LOC classification about mid-way down the record.
  8. You can also find it at the bottom of the record under “Call number.” This is the code that tells you where the book is filed on the shelves.
  9. Also, note the Collection that it’s in. The books in the library are organized into different collections: reference collection, core collection, oversize collection, paperback novels, and videos.
  10. If you have any questions or need more assistance, please let me or one of the library staff know.
  1. From the library’s home page, select “eBooks” near the top.
  2. You have the option of selecting 5 different eBook collections. The Ebook Central collection is the most extensive and will probably be the only one you need.
  3. To select it, click on the Ebook Central title.
  4. Enter your keywords in the search box and press enter or select “Search.”
  5. In the left panel, you have several options to refine your search, if you get too many results. But the easiest way to get better results is to do an advanced search and tell the database exactly where you want it to look.
  6. To do this, select “Advanced Search” near the top of the page.
  7. Pull it down the menu in the first box and select the field you want to search. Probably Title.
  8. Leave the second box with “contains”
  9. Now, enter your keywords again and press enter or “Search.”
  10. Clicking on the title will take you into the book’s record where you can read it online or download it. You can also copy or print a limited percentage of the book.
  11. There’s are other strategies you can learn and use to help you find eBooks in this database. What I’ve shown you here, however, should work for most situations. If you have any questions or need further assistance, just let me or one of the library staff know.
  1. Most databases work basically the same. For this tutorial, we’re going to use ProQuest Central as an example.
  2. From the library’s home page, select “Databases” near the top of the page.
  3. Next, find the ProQuest Central link and click on it.
  4. The default search option is Basic Search. Just enter your keywords in the search box.
  5. Generally, it is best to select the “Full text” and “Peer reviewed” options. This guarantees you can will have full access to the article and that the article is credible information.
  6. Press enter or click the magnifier search icon.
  7. The left pane of the results page gives you multiple options for refining your search, if you need to. You may also choose to do an advanced search to get more targeted results.
  8. To do an advanced search, click on the “Advanced Search” link near the top of the page.
  9. In the first search box, enter your keywords again.
  10. In the “In” box, pull down the menu and select a field to search. Document title or Abstract are the most common. Abstract is particularly good because it is a brief summary of the topic of the article. If the article pertains to your search terms, they should appear in the abstract even if they are not in the title.
  11. Once you select your field, add additional terms and fields or press enter or “Search.”
  12. To view an article just click on its title. You can now read the article, download it, print it, or copy it into a word doc, etc.
  13. If you have any questions or need further assistance, just let me or one of the library staff know.
  1. Use the “Books” link from the library’s home page to search for the book(s) you want.
  2. Email the library director at: mark.warnick@blackrivertech.edu
  3. Include your full name, student/staff ID#, and the title, author, and call number of each book you want to check out.
  4. We will pull the book(s) and send it (them) to the bookstore on the Paragould campus, usually by the next day. You can pick them up from and return them to the Paragould bookstore.

ProQuest Training – (Video Tutorials)

Documentation References

Resources for K12 Educators and Their Students

The Black River Technical College library has created this list of digital resources specifically to help area K12 teachers. All these resources can also be accessed through the Arkansas Traveler Portal or online, but we tried to organize and categorize them here to make it easier to find just what you need. If you have questions or other needs we might be able to help with, please feel free to contact us.

ProQuest Central

A cross-disciplinary research tool with 39 databases that can be searched together or individually.

U.S. Newsstream

The most recent premium U.S. news content, including archives as far back as the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. One of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers, and is cross-searchable on the ProQuest platform.

CultureGrams

Access to cultural reports, statistics, and primary source material for countries across the globe, including the United States and Canadian provinces. Includes unique information such as native recipes, interviews, photos and videos. Contains four modules: Kids, Provinces, States and World. – (grade: K-12)

Early World of Learning

An online resource for preschoolers & children in early elementary that includes three interactive learning environments. There is also a read aloud feature and an educator’s tool page for curriculum correlations, guided reading programs, and more. – (grade: early elementary)

eBooks Central

Collection of 1 million+ ebooks from ProQuest on a range of subjects: arts, business management, education, general knowledge, health & medicine, history & political science, law, literature & language, religion & philosophy, science & technology, and social science. – (grade: elementary & up)

  • Note: Use the “Browse Subjects” link to browse by topic, including “Education,” and “Juvenile Literature.”

eLibrary: Academic

General reference collection of periodical and digital media content for high schools and colleges, covering a variety of subjects including business, education, general interest, health, language arts, sciences, social sciences, and many other curriculum-specific subject areas. – (grade: high school & up)

eLibrary: Guided Research Interface

One of the largest general reference collections of periodical and digital media content designed to support every range of users, including middle and high school students, college-prep and college-level researchers, and professional educators. – (grade: middle school & up)

  • Educators can search for resources that correlate to state and national standards, including Common Core State Standards. More than 2,090 full-text magazines, newspapers, books, and transcript titles, plus a collection of over 7 million maps, pictures, web links, and audio/video files.

History Study Center

Collection of primary and secondary sources on global history from ancient times to the present. – (grade: middle school & up)

Learning: Literature

Author biographies, contemporary criticism, reviews, and multimedia resources from medieval times to the present.

  • Educator tools include standards-based lesson plan templates and open-URLs (permalinks) to resources that can be directly shared with students. – (grade: high school & up)

Literature Online (LION)

Primary and critical text database for literary research at all levels. The collection includes full text of more than 350,000 works of poetry, drama, and prose stretching back to the 8th century through the present day. Special features include audio and video files of literature being read. – (grade: middle school & up)

Research Companion

Developed to help students do more effective research and assist educators in teaching the information literacy core principles of finding, evaluating, and using information. – (grade: high school & up)

SIRS Discoverer

General reference database for elementary and middle school learners, researchers, and educators covering curriculum areas and content sets such as reading, language arts, current events, science, social studies, history, health, and technology. SIRS Discoverer provides editorially-selected, indexed, and curated materials from over 2,100 newspapers, magazines, and websites offering guided research for young researchers. – (grade: elementary & middle)

SIRS Issues Researcher

Background and analysis on 350+ leading issues, providing pros and cons on social, scientific, health, historic, economic, political, and global issues. – (grade: high school & up)

World Book Advanced

A reference tool for 8th grade and up that includes an encyclopedia, multimedia, e-books, and primary source databases all fully integrated in a single search interface. – (grade: 8-12)

 

Breaking News English

Real news stories written in plain language. Levels of difficulty range from easy to advanced. Students can read and summarize the articles, or answer questions for comprehension. Daily practice with these will certainly help both vocabulary and writing skills.

Distance Learning Resources from the Smithsonian

Access to millions of digital resources from across the Smithsonian\’s museums, research centers, libraries, archives, and more. Pre-packaged collections that contain lessons, activities, and recommended resources made by Smithsonian museum educators as well as thousands of classroom teachers.

Educreations

Tool for teaching students how to write and revise their papers. Teachers can record their voices and iPad screens to create dynamic video tutorials that students can access and revisit any time they need. It’s great for editing sample papers and explaining the revision process.

Open Educational Resources

Network where teachers and professors can access and share course materials.

PBS Learning Media

Standards-based resources for Pre-K to 12th grade students. Materials include lesson plans, videos, news articles, activities, and more. There’s even a section on professional development, where teachers can find tips for better planning and preparation, as well as more effective instruction.

Teacher.org

Offers a vast array of tools and resources created by K-12 teachers from across the United States. From lesson plans organized by grade level and subject, to teacher guides and helpful articles, Teacher.org has everything covered. Best of all, they also offer scholarship information for teachers continuing their own educations.

The Literacy Shed

Films, photos, animations, and picture books that add to literary themes. Although most films are aimed at elementary school students, there are quite a few that even the “big kids” will love.

Scholastic

Resources and Tools for lesson plans, a planning calendar and detailed information regarding Common Core standards. The Strategies and Ideas area offers information about assessment, literacy and classroom management. Choose from a variety of student activities, including interactive whiteboard activities and computer lab activities that can be used to supplement your lessons.

  • Note: the site is loaded with worksheets and activities. Some cost money, but many are free.

Smithsonian Education

A wealth of free online educational resources. Search for lesson plans in subject areas like Art and Design, History and Culture and Science and Technology. Search more than 2,000 free resources by keyword, grade level and subject. Brush up on state standards of learning, including Common Core standards.

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