• Finding Books, DVDs, Videos (Normandale’s Library Catalog - MnPALS)
• Finding Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles
• Accessing Article Databases from Off Campus
• Placing Materials on Reserve
• Online Reserves
• Getting Materials not available at Normandale
• Requesting Materials for the Library Collection
• Course-Integrated Library Instruction
• Research Tools
• Current Awareness (Auto-Alerts and Tables of Contents)
• Journal Tables of Contents
• Research Assistance
• Cheating 101: The Problem of Plagiarism

Finding Books, DVDs, Videos (NCC MnPALS)

• Search Normandale’s Library Catalog (MnPALS) to find books, DVDs, CDs, videos, and more.
• Use your NCC ID card to check out books and materials from the Circulation Desk.
• You may check out up to 100 items total. Faculty and staff can check books out for 130 days and videos for 2 weeks.
• Contact the Circulation Desk (952.487.8290) to reserve a video or DVD for your class.
• Books can be renewed online using your 14-digit barcode number (on the back of your ID card). Click on the Renew Your Books link under Your Account on the homepage.

Finding Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles

• We have access to over 10,000 journals, magazines, and newspapers. The majority of these are online through the library. We also have about 400 current subscriptions in print/microfilm/microfiche.
• We have over 50 different library databases to search for articles from your office, your home computer, or any computer with Internet access. Click on Find Full Text to see if we have the articles electronically in another database, in print in the library, or you may request it through Interlibrary Loan.

Accessing Article Databases from Off Campus

• Only NCC students, faculty, and staff can access several dozen article databases and electronic reference resources from off campus. You must obtain a Normandale photo ID card which has the library barcode on the back. To access the databases you must enter the 14-digit barcode number and your password (your last name).

Placing Materials on Reserve

• Reserves can help to ensure that intensively used, required and recommended reading assignments for a class are available to all students in the class.
• The Library helps to ensure that all reserve materials are in compliance with copyright regulations.
• To place materials on reserve, simply bring them into the Circulation Desk and fill out a "Library Reserve Request" form.
• Reserve materials can also be in audio, DVD, or video formats.
• All materials placed on reserve are subject to copyright restrictions.
• Copyright information
• TEACH Act

Online Reserves

The Library subscribes to thousands of full-text electronic journals and these materials can be linked directly from your course Reserve list. Using online reserve as an alternative to print means that students do not have to compete for access to one or two copies of a printed item. Online reserves are available 24/7, from any web browser on or off campus. Links to full-text articles from library databases, e.g. JSTOR, Academic Search Premier, etc. can be created for Online Reserve access.
The form for placing materials on online reserve is here (on campus only).
To send your request from off campus, e-mail it to Mayya Rabinovich

Getting Materials not available at Normandale (InterLibrary Loan-ILL)

• Use Interlibrary Loan to get books, journal, magazine, and newspaper articles not available at Normandale.
• Fill out our online form with your citation information. Add your 14-digit barcode number (from the back of your ID card) and receive the materials in 2-10 days, often via email.
• You can use any library in the Minnesota State Colleges University system and check books out using your NCC ID card.

Requesting Materials for the Library Collection

• Requests for purchase may be submitted through your department library materials procedure. To request a journal or subscription-based electronic resource, please contact Carol Johnson (x8298) or Rosalie Bunge (x8296).
• To request the purchase of a book, audio-visual material, or subscription-based electronic resource, please contact Rosalie Bunge (x8296).
• To request a trial of an online resource, please contact Rosalie Bunge (x8296).
• CHOICE Reviews Online is a great resource to use when developing the library collection in your discipline.
• Booklist Online and Books in Print are also useful review tools.

Course-Integrated Library Instruction

• Course Integrated Library Instruction will help your students learn effective research and critical evaluation strategies. We tailor each session to meet your students’ needs and your assignment. Call Carol Johnson (x8298) or Tom Tollman (x8294) to set up a session.
• A Course QuickStart webpage will be created for your course identifying the article databases, print resources, and other resources students can use when completing assignments for your course.

Research Tools

• The Assignment Calculator gives students a 12-step process based on their research assignments and their due date and topic: steps include understanding the assignment, developing a topic, finding and evaluating books and articles, creating an outline, writing the first draft, and revising/rewriting.
• Research QuickStart & Course QuickStart give students a head start to completing research. Each guide is tailored to a specific subject area or course. The guides include links to article databases, print resources, and important websites faculty want students to use when doing research for their course. (Note: Please contact Carol Johnson (x8298) carol.johnson@normandale.edu if you would like a guide created for your course or research area.)

Current Awareness (Auto-Alerts and Tables of Contents)

• Current Awareness refers to new features of many of our databases that allow you to sign up for free personalized services such as e-mail delivery of tables of contents, e-mailed subject searches and more. These features generally require you to create your own login and profile within each database or within a given journal.

Journal Tables of Contents

• Who publishes the journals you read the most? Go to publishers web sites to see if they offer Alert Services or Tables of Contents (TOC) Services.
• Note: The library does not have to subscribe to a journal for you to receive updates. Simply use Interlibrary Loan to receive the article in 2-10 days.

Research Assistance

• Reference Librarians are available to assist library users with research questions whenever the library is open. The Reference Desk is located in the main room of the library. You may also call the Reference Desk at 952-487-8295, or e-mail our Ask a Librarian service (answered daily when the library is open).

Cheating 101: The Problem of Plagiarism

• This website is aimed at providing faculty with an overview of the current state of Internet Paper Mills, how to locate Paper Mills, how to detect plagiarized papers, how to track down suspicious papers, and how to combat plagiarism.