• Journal is a type of periodical intended for a scholarly audience and articles are    written by and for scholars and researchers in the field.

• Magazine is a type of periodical intended for a general reading audience and        containing articles of popular interest.

The UOK Library, like most academic libraries, arranges books on the shelves according to the Dewy Decimal Classification System. This system, which uses a combination of letters and numbers, ensures that books on similar subjects are shelved together (making it easier for browsing).

In this classification, all subjects are divided into 10 major divisions. Accordingly, the books in the library are shelved.

10 main subjects

     000 public works

     200 Religion

     300 Social Sciences

     400 Language

     500 Natural Sciences

     600 Technology

     700 Art

     800 Literature

     900 Geography and History

Again, the main subjects are further subdivided into separate sections.

     300 Social Sciences

            330 Economics

            331 Labor economics

            332 Financial economics

            333 Economics of land & energy

            334 Cooperatives

            335 Socialism & related systems

            336 Public finance

            337 International economics

            338 Production

            339 Macroeconomics & related topics

Each call number has 3 or more digits. The book labels are pasted on the spine of each book.

Borrowing

You cannot take out periodicals, reference books, government documents, or Special Collections materials from the library.

You can borrow Schedule Reference-SR books after 12.00 noon on week days for one night and must return before 10.00 a.m. on next day. If you borrow SR books on Friday, you must return SR books on Monday.


Limit: How many books can I borrow?

3 books (lending 2, SR 1) can be borrowed by Undergraduate 1^st Year student.
3 books (lending 2, SR 1) can be borrowed by Undergraduate 2^nd Year student.
5 books (lending 3, SR 2) can be borrowed by Undergraduate 3^rd Year student.
7 books (lending 4, SR 3) can be borrowed by Undergraduate 4^th Year student.
3 books (lending 2, SR 1) can be borrowed by Post Graduate student.

• Does the Library have copies of textbooks?

       The Library purchase textbooks. If you want to borrow textbooks,             you should request a letter through the Head of the department that         you are studying. The text book collection of the library is available           in secund floor of the new library wing

• A book is in the library catalogue and "available", but I can't find it...

   Renewing

• You can renew a book (lending books only) for a further 2 weeks only. (from the date of renewal, not original due date), provided that no one else has placed a hold on that book. You can renew each title once. Books can be renewed:
• in person at the circulation counters by producing your ID card
• or by email to dhammikapr@kln.ac.lk

Returning library materials

Library materials must be returned on or before the date and/or time due in order to avoid overdue fines.

Library materials should be returned to the circulation counters.

Please note: Textbooks must be returned to the text book collection located in the secund floor of the new library wing, so be sure to return these during the hours when the Library is open.

Overdue materials and fine rates

Fines are assessed on all overdue Library materials so be sure to renew your Library books.

Fines are paid at the circulation counter during operating hours. Overdue items are assessed a fine of:

Rs. 2 for Lending books per day

Rs. 5 for Reference books per day

For further information, please refer to Circulation Policies, Loan Periods, and Fines.

If you want a library material (books) not available at the library, we can bring-in from any other library through Inter-Library Loan service. You should give bibliographic information and location (the library of material available) of the book you wanted to the Reader Services Office in the library. The book is delivered to the relevant reader for a period of two weeks only.  If you do not return the material on time, you will have to bear the delaying cost + any other fines prescribed by the lend library.  This service is available only to Academic staff of the university. Undergraduate and postgraduate students will be personally directed to relevant library with a letter issued by the Librarian of the University of Kelaniya.

• Have a question on how to find something in the library or on the web?
• Looking for peer-reviewed articles?
• Need advice on how to research an essay topic?
• How to use referencing style?

There are now more ways to get answers:

• in person

UOK Library has Subject Liaison Librarians attached to each faculty of University of Kelaniya and User service librarian in the min library who can help you one-on-one with your questions. You may also ask at the Circulation counter - we are here to assist you.

For advanced research assistance, you may wish to make an appointment with your Subject Liaison Librarian.

• by live chat

NEED ANY HELP

Get real-time answers to your questions, or advice on searching for library resources. The “NEED ANY HELP” service is online on week days.

NEED ANY HELP : https://library.kln.ac.lk/index.php/en/need-any-help

• by email

If “NEED ANY HELP” is not available (or if you prefer to use email) contact the Library at librarian@kln.ac.lk.A response to your question should come within one working day.

• by telephone

Ask your research questions, renewals by telephone, 0112 903385, during working hours.

• Not able to access the campus wireless network?
• Having problems formatting your paper?
• Not sure how to set VPN?
• How to use LEARN or Digital repository of UOK?

Interactive Media librarian available in the first flow of the old library wing will help you with computer-related questions in the Learning Commons.

E-mail: thero@kln.ac.lk

Articles in journals and magazines are not listed in the library catalogue - you will have to use a different resource such as an article database (or article index). An article database allows you to search hundreds of journals at the same time. The Library subscribes to various article databases; some article databases are subject specific; others cover many subject areas.

Article databases provide citation information to journal or magazine articles, such as title of the article; author(s) of the article; title of the journal/magazine; volume, issue, page numbers, and year of the journal/magazine.  Some article databases provide abstracts (summaries of the article) which can help you decide if the article may be useful. Many databases include the full text of the article.

How to log-in to Shibboleth Quick Access to full-text Databases:

https://library.kln.ac.lk/index.php/en/collection/e-collection/e-journals

For finding the best resources for your research, you can get help from Subject Liaison Librarians. You can access full-text Databases through Shibboleth Quick Access to full-text Databases:   https://library.kln.ac.lk/index.php/en/ . Please talk to your subject liaison librarian

Resource URL : https://library.upei.ca/web_info

Planning Your Search Strategy

A well-planned search strategy greatly improves the chances of finding the information you need.

1. Define the topicin your own words. It can be helpful to state the topic in the form of a question, e.g., what are the effects of television violence on children?
2. Identify the main concepts and keywords.For the topic, what are the effects of television violence on children? the main concepts would be: television, violence, children.
3. Refine your search terms. 

Consider:

• synonyms/different forms of keywords, e.g., tv in addition to television
• alternative spellings. Consider British vs. American spellings, e.g., labour/labor, and even mis-spellings, e.g., geneology vs. genealogy
• truncation and wildcards, e.g., child* will retrieve child, children; wom*n will retrieve woman, women

4. Combine the terms

AND (+)   retrieves records with both terms, e.g., television AND violence

OR   retrieves records with either term, e.g., television OR tv

NOT (-)   retrieves records with the first term but not the second, e.g., child* NOT adolescent*

NEAR   retrieves records with terms within a certain number of words of each other, e.g., television NEAR violence

Also Consider:

• phrase searching--the use of quotation marks to ensure that words appear immediately next to each other, e.g.,"television violence"
• nesting--the use of round brackets to specify the order in which searching should be done, e.g., ("television violence " OR "tv violence") AND child*
• field searching. Depending on the search engine, you may be able to search by one or more fields (specific portions of a webpage), such as title, URL, etc.

5. Construct the search strategy

For: what are the effects of television violence on children?
One strategy could be: (television OR tv) AND violence AND child*

  Searching the Web

There are essentially three types of tools to use when searching the Web, i.e., subject directories, search engines, and meta-search tools.

Subject directories are lists of selected Web resources arranged by topic in a hierarchical way. These small databases are compiled by human beings, so are comparatively small, and can sometimes get out of date quickly. Search results are usually highly relevant, however.

Use subject directories when looking for:

• general information on a subject
• a popular topic
• a broad topic
• a specialized database
• a metapage (a website created by a subject expert or other interested party who collects URLs and makes them available from one site)

Selected Subject Directories

Search Engines are word-by-word indexes of web resources gathered by a computer program. These databases are substantially larger and more current than subject directories. Finding relevant documents can be more difficult, however. Use search engines when looking for specific information, or information on a current topic.

Selected Search Engines

Meta-Search Tools allow you to search several tools at one time. They speed up the search process and are useful for searches with unique terms. However, they lack access to all the advanced search features the individual tools provide and might present only the first few results from each tool.

Selected Meta-Search Tools

Web Searching Tips

• Use more than one search tool
• Look for Help information from each tool's website, or look for a tip sheet or chart showing the details of the various tools
• Don't bog down in any search strategy which doesn't work
• Remember: the information you’re seeking may not be available for free on the Web

Try  this Web Searching Tutorial:

Bare Bones 101 (University of South Carolina)
A basic tutorial on searching the Web.
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml

Looking for More Information on Searching the Web?

The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook  : A Guide for the Serious Searcher / Randolph Hock
E-book

Finding Information on the Internet (University of California, Berkeley)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html

Google Search Secrets / Michael P. Sauers and Christa Burns
E-book

An Introduction to Search Engines and Web Navigation / Mark Levene
E-book

Search Tools Chart (InfoPeople)
https://infopeople.org/content/best-search-tools-chart​

Evaluating Web Information

The quality of information found on the World Wide Web varies greatly. Therefore, it is extremely important to critically evaluate information you find on the Web. Consider the following criteria:

• Accuracy
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Currency
• Coverage
• Site design

Accuracy

• Is the information reliable and error-free?
• Is there a bibliography? If so, consider the quality of sources cited.
• Is the information fact or opinion?
• Are there grammatical or spelling errors?

Authority

• Is the page signed?
• Is the author qualified? What experience or formal credentials does the person have? Has the author written anything else on this topic?
• Can the author be contacted by phone and mail, as well as by email?
• Who is the sponsor/publisher? Reputable?

Objectivity

• Does the information show a minimum of bias?
• What is the purpose of the webpage?
• Is there any advertising on the page? If so, is it separate from the informational content?

Currency

• When was the information originally presented?
• How often is it updated?
• How current are the links? Have some expired or moved?

Coverage

• What topics are covered?
• What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere?
• How in-depth is the material?

Site Design

• Is the website well organized? Is it easy to navigate within the site?
• Is special software required to access all the features of the site?
• Is the color scheme appealing?
• Do graphics enhance the content, rather than distract?

Try this Web Evaluation Tutorial:

Evaluating Web Sites (Ohio State University) 
Brief tutorial introducing the techniques for judging the value of websites for research purposes.
http://liblearn.osu.edu/tutor/les1/

Looking for More Information on Web Evaluation?

Evaluating Information Found on the Internet (Elizabeth E. Kirk, Johns Hopkins University)
http://guides.library.jhu.edu/evaluate

All university students can use access e-resources via Shiblith. You need to use your user name and password given by the University,

E-Resources : https://library.kln.ac.lk/index.php/en/collection/e-collection/e-journals. 

or,

Ask from the circulation counter to contact the Interactive Media librarian for information commons.

The Library is a very busy place and can be noisy at times. Please do your part to keep noise levels to a minimum. Thank you for helping us maintain a reasonably quiet research environment.

Information commons area and reference section can be used as a squite area. A quiet place on the 2nd floor is established in the new library building. Ask the circulation counter for more information.

Group study area and studying help room are available for studying or working on assignments.

Group study area: at information commons area in old library building.

Studying help room: Three interactive salons established in 3^rd floor of the new library wing.

Book a Room Now

• Most group study rooms are equipped with furniture.
• Group study area is not soundproofed. Keep conversations at a considerate noise level

If a group of people want to book an interactive salon, you should send your request to IT Head librarian by a letter endorsed from your HOD. Please contact Ms. Subhani Priyangika over subhanee@kln.ac.lk

Photocopying

• Where: ground floor of the Library.
• Payment:  per side 2 rupees for black & white, per double sides 5 rupees for black & white

And... when you photocopy material, please respect Copyright.
 

Scanning

Scanning is free of charge. Scans can be emailed, or bring a USB stick for larger amounts of work. Send a request to Subject Liaison Librarian attached to your faculty.

You can access the wireless network using WIFI and VPN. For accessing WIFI, use your WIFI user name and password that is provided by ICT center of University of Kelaniya.

How to set-up VPN : https://library.kln.ac.lk/index.php/en/library-guide/vpn-access

or,