Research right at home

In addition to the 750,000-plus books it possesses, the Tisch Library contains more than 3,000 different periodical titles, and more than 13,000 online journals and databases.

Obtaining articles through Tisch's electronic databases and journals has become an increasingly favored research method among University students, who site convenience and decreased cost as benefits.

Tisch's electronic journals and databases may be accessed through any internet connection. Students seeking to research at their leisure can operate within these free channels from their own computers if they do not wish to pay the library's ten cent per page photocopying or printing fee.

"I can't even remember the last time I researched without using the online resources," freshman Monica Gallagher said. "It's so much cheaper!"

In addition to being less costly than photocopying, many students find electronic resources more expedient. "I tend to use electronic journals for research. It's more convenient than paging through the real things," freshman Lara Korman said.

"If it's not on the computer, I usually don't go searching for the article," freshman Maddy Carroll said. "It's easier to find articles online because I can do it from my room instead of having to go to the library."

Tisch's electronic resources are also useful to students who are studying abroad and do not have physical access to the library.

However, the high convenience of online databases and journals does have a price. "The use of our print collection has been going down, especially in the sciences," said head of collections and reference Laura Walters. "That's the reason we're starting to charge to print pages out. It was costing us 60,000 dollars a year to support free printing in the library."

Tisch's policy on print periodicals allows decidedly less freedom of access. Unlike online resources, which can be accessed from students' own computers in the comfort or squalor of their dorm rooms, print periodicals may not be removed from the library. They must be photocopied or read within the confines of the library.

While this policy may inconvenience some students who wish to take out the journals it provides greater accessibility for all students and is a basic library rule.

"Every academic library that I know of has this policy," Walters notes. By limiting the use of periodicals to within the library, the Tisch policy avoids the problem of inaccessibility and ensures that periodicals remain available to any individual who wishes to come to the library and seek them out.

Once journal issues are one year old, they are bound into book form and shelved. Most journal volumes contain at least 100 articles. If these volumes were available to be checked out, their setup would prove highly problematic according to Walters.

"Many people are sometimes looking for the same bound journal since it contains so many different articles," Walters said.

Freshman Cory Levitt reasons that journals are like encyclopedias: they shouldn't be taken out because of their frequent usage.

"[Journals] also have such a variety of information. Chances are that if you're taking [a journal] out for one reason, there's someone else who needs it for another reason."

Since periodicals cannot be removed from the library, those seeking simply to read an article must do so inside the library.

"Unlike a book, one can read a journal article quickly," Walters added.

Though the policy against removing periodicals from the library is a firm, the Tisch staff is willing to accommodate special circumstances.

"Should a patron need to make a color copy, they could check the periodical out for an hour," said Walters. As a precaution against the theft of periodicals, however, that patron would have to leave his or her ID with the library.