The English and Romance Studies Library
The English and Romance Studies Library is one of a number of libraries at the Faculty of Arts at the Charles University. It closely collaborates with the Department of Anglophone Literatures & Cultures, the Department of the English Language and the Department of Romance Studies. The services of the library may be used by both internal and external users, including other libraries and public offices of enquiry. The conditions of library use are defined by a set of national and university regulations. The principal of these are Borrowing Rules; all library users must be familiar with these, a fact that is confirmed by their signature that is requested on the creation of their library account. Borrowing Rules are posted in the study room of the library, and available at the Faculty of Arts website (download the rules). The library features a study room (15 seats), a reference library and five computers designated mainly to catalogue and database search.
Borrowing Rules for Students of English and Romance Studies – A Summary
Each student wishing to use the services of the library or the study room must be properly registered. A valid ID, valid faculty coupon, ISIC student card and a completed registration form (available at the library) are required for the registration. The library requires students to include a valid e-mail address in order to facilitate communication with them.
Students should always carry their ISIC card, which is required for borrowing and extending loans.
* NB: ISIC cards are issued in the Charles University information centre at Celetná Street 13. An LDAP password is issued together with the ISIC card. The password must be changed within 5 days of its issue; when changing their password, students may set up other passwords which may be required to access particular resources. The LDAP password is required in order to use computers other than those connected to the Faculty of Arts network for access to the centralized online library catalogue or electronic resources made available through the Faculty of Arts.
Searching the Catalogues
Students (and other users) are requested to look up shelf marks by themselves.
HOW TO FIND THE BOOK YOU NEED
Shelf marks must be looked up either in the electronic or in the card catalogue (English studies collection only), which is located in the study room (the extensive collection of the library is currently in the process of being digitised).
ELECTRONIC CATALOGUE
Readers can search the Centralized Catalogue of Charles University, and select the Catalogue of the Faculty of Arts there. As a rule, publications that have been acquired by the Library of English and Romance Studies since 1997 appear in the Centralized Catalogue. The remaining part of the collection is gradually being added to this resource.
We recommend that you start your search always in the electronic catalogue. When you find the desired item, click the respective library link (in the Lib column). A new window will open where you will be able to see the shelf mark of the item. Write it down on a separate piece of paper, together with the name of the author and title of the publication (only if the item is On Shelf).
Please do not ask for publications recorded as Grant loans – these are books that are in use by research project participants, and are therefore not available to other users.
AUTHOR AND SUBJECT CATALOGUE (in the study room)
If you cannot find the requested item, it may still appear in the card catalogue only. The card catalogues incorporate items acquired before 1997. Shelf marks may be found in the top right corner of each card.
Having found the shelf mark by either method, continue in the following manner:
Write down the title and shelf mark of each requested item on a separate piece of paper (order card). For example, if you request four different titles, you must give the librarian four separate order cards.
IMPORTANT
All libraries within the Faculty suffer from insufficient space for their growing collections. Some of the items are placed in corridors or classrooms, and it is not always possible to access them immediately. Even items with the same shelf mark may be located at several different places. Order cards are therefore sorted by the location of the item.
Most publications are provided while you wait. However, some items will not be accessible until the following day, occasionally even longer (books placed in classrooms with a busy teaching schedule or in the Veleslavín depository – see the list in the library).
Please ask to borrow items sufficient ahead of the library closing time, and do not present the librarian with extended lists – put each item on a separate slip of paper. Thank you.
You may hand in your order cards and return for the books later at an appointed time. The books will be ready for collection in your name.
It is possible to order most of the publications on-line. The only exception is loans marked as “Regular Loan II” (Norton Anthology, dictionaries, etc.), “Short term loan” and “In-house loan”. These loans must be ordered in the library. When ordering loans on-line, please wait for a confirmation e-mail.
Borrowing, Extending and Returning Loans
The permitted number of loans differs for different user categories. The total number of loans must not exceed the limit stated in the Appendix to the Borrowing Rules.
Certain items may be used only in the study room (“in-house loans”). These include primarily dissertations (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral theses) and reference books, located mainly in the glass-fronted cabinets in the study room (anthologies, dictionaries, encyclopaedias).
Loans may be extended only before their due date.
The library is obliged to collect fines for overdue items according to the valid tariff.
Library users are liable for lost items. The librarian is authorised to claim compensation that may be several times higher than the original cost of the lost item, depending on the chances of replacing the lost document. We urge students not to leave borrowed books in lecture rooms, corridors, restaurants, on trains, and not to lend them to others. Please remember that losing library items damages other users of the library.
EXCHANGE STUDENTS (participating in programmes such as ERASMUS, etc.) are entitled, as a rule, to borrowing rights identical to undergraduate students of English and Romance Studies at Charles University. Exchange students are advised that a failure to return all library loans will result in not being issued a transcript of their study results at Charles University.
Study Room
The study room in the Library of English and Romance Studies is designated for the study of items that may not leave the library (“in-house loans”). It also features reference books in the glass-fronted cabinets (usually in a single copy). The cabinets are numbered and locked.
Electronic Information Resources
Electronic information resources that have been made available by the Faculty of Arts may be accessed directly from the study room. The URL is http://pez.cuni.cz/ezdroje. Direct access to these resources is also possible from other computers connected to the Faculty network. To access these resources from other computers, you need to use the remote access route. A valid LDAP password is required for this service. Further information on this topic may be found at the Faculty of Arts of Main Library website.
