Ask a Librarian

Find the library's hours here. If special circumstances require a change in hours, these changes will also be posted on the campus portal and on the door of the Library.

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Loras College Library's primary clients are students, staff, and faculty at Loras College.

We also serve Loras College alumnae and retirees; students, staff and faculty at Clarke University, Divine Word College, Emmaus Bible College, the University of Dubuque, Northeast Iowa Community College, and Wartburg Seminary; students from Highland College in Freeport, Illinois; members of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Dubuque; and Friends of the Loras College Library.

In addition, by presenting their public library card and Iowa picture identification, public library patrons may check-out most materials from the Loras College Library.

Note: Library patrons, other than the students, faculty, and staff of Loras College, will not have access to interlibrary loan services, reserve materials, or electronic databases/resources. For those services, we encourage public library patrons to check at their local public library and other patrons to check at their primary institution.

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All Loras students, staff, and faculty have borrowing and network privileges; others may also apply for borrowing privileges. Just stop by the check-out desk.

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The Special Collections and Rare Book Room is located on the third floor of the Library. Items located in this collection include those which are very old, difficult or impossible to replace, limited and first editions, signed copies, unique manuscript materials, books by Dubuque authors, and Loras faculty publications. The Special Collections and Rare Book Room also includes folios by Shakespeare and incunabula (books published before 1501).

Most of the items in this room are in the online catalog.The room is open on Tuesdays from 1:30-3:30 p.m. during the school year, and at other times by appointment. Contact: Heidi Pettitt, (563) 588-7873 heidi.pettitt@loras.edu or Joyce Meldrem, (563) 588-7164 joyce.meldrem@loras.edu.

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Lending rules vary a bit by category:

• Most patrons can keep books, videos, educational media, curriculum library items, and government documents for 4 weeks. Faculty and staff may keep these items until the end of the current semester.
• All Wilkie Classic DVDs and entertainment DVDs, may be checked out for 1 week by students, faculty, staff, alumni, or Friends of the Library members.
• Loras College students working on their theses may check out books for the semester by special arrangement with the library director.
• Unless labeled otherwise, Reserve items are checked out for a 2-hour time period. All Reserve items must be used in the Library.
• Items that cannot be checked-out from the Library include those classified as reference, periodicals, microfilm or microfiche, or material from the Center for Dubuque History, Loras College Archives, or Special Collections.

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You can renew material by bringing it to the Check Out desk, or by going online, starting at the Loras College Library home page. Then....

1. Go to the 'Services' column
2. Click on the 'My Library Account' link
3. You will be taken to the My Account tab
4. Enter the barcode from your Loras ID card
5. Click on the 'Login' button
6. You'll see your Account Overview
7. Click on either the 'Checked Out' link on the menu bar, or the 'Items Out' link on the left-hand side of the screen to see what items you have checked out
8. Check the boxes next to the items you want to renew
9. Click on the 'Renew' button
10. Click on the red 'Logout' button when finished.

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Choose a research guide by subject, by course, or find a tutorial guide or an event guide.

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Yes. Library users may use the networked computers on second floor across from the Check Out Desk.

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This collection, located on the third floor, contains the literary materials of the late Rev. Raymond Roseliep, Professor of English at Loras College who served in the Department between 1946 to 1982. Roseliep was an established poet who gained a reputation as a haikuist, and was the winner of the prestigious Henderson Award. He tied for first place in 1977, received an honorable mention in 1979, and won the first place award in 1982.

The Roseliep Collection contains the books from the poet's personal library, his literary correspondence, his own published books, and drafts of published and unpublished work in progress. The collection is available to researchers by appointment. Contact: Heidi Pettitt, (563) 588-7873 heidi.pettitt@loras.edu or Joyce Meldrem, (563) 588-7164 joyce.meldrem@loras.edu.

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The Center for Dubuque History, located on first floor, maintains the largest collection of local history resources in the tri-state region, featuring a large photograph collection, maps, art work, local business and organizational records, letters, manuscripts, diaries, post cards, oral histories, government records, and published books related to the Dubuque area and the Upper Mississippi River lead mining region.

Also included are numerous reference materials useful to genealogical researchers including state and federal census data, plat books, old newspapers, obituary files, city directories, individual family histories, etc.

Please make an appointment in advance to use the collection. Contact: Michael Gibson, Center for Dubuque History Director (563) 588-7163 michael.gibson@loras.edu

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Librarians are available Monday through Friday, during regular business hours. Click here for contact information.

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Only those periodical titles that are received by the Library in print format have a record in the catalog. For a complete list of periodicals, including electronic titles, use the Library's "Full-Text Finder".

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Government documents are arranged by the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) classification system.

Even though Superintendent of Documents numbers use periods, these are not decimal points. The periods simply separate elements of the number.

For example, if you were to look for the document Y 4.W 36:106-10, you would look for each element of the number separately, but in order:

1. Y4
2. W36
3. 106-10
4. And so on. . . . 

A more detailed explanation of the SuDocs classification system is offered at this link: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/explain.html.

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The library has a cart with a TV, VCR, and DVD player on it. You can check out the entire cart of equipment for a period of two hours, in-library use only. To borrow the equipment, ask at the Check Out Desk.

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Current and recent newspapers are located on the third floor, in the Reading Room. Older editions (bound or on microfilm) are located on first floor. In addition, many newspapers are now online and are available through their own Web site or through a database. The library database Access World News contains the full-text of over 5000 newspapers and other news sources.

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Go to the Campus Safety & Security Office and ask for a new ID card. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm. A $10 card replacement fee will be billed to your business office account by Campus Safety.

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Most journal articles arrive within 4-7 days and books usually arrive within 14-18 days. Find more information here.

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If another local library has materials you need, it is possible for you to go directly to that library and save yourself the Interlibrary Loan processing time.

Loras College Library shares borrowing privileges with other colleges and universities in the Dubuque area, including the University of Dubuque, Clarke University, Northeast Iowa Community College, and Wartburg Seminary.

Loras College Library participates in the Open Access program through the State Library of Iowa. This allows our patrons to visit other participating libraries and borrow their materials, including the Carnegie Stout Public Library.

If the item is not available through one of these options, you can request it through Interlibrary Loan. Start the process.

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The Loras College Archive is located on the first floor of the Library. Included in this collection are documents, reports, photographs, college literary publications, architectural drawings, books, issues of The Lorian (the student newspaper), The Purgold yearbook, athletic programs, records of student organizations, biographical records, alumni directories, college bulletins and catalogs, commencement programs, etc. Please make an appointment in advance to use the collection. Contact: Michael Gibson, Archivist, (563) 588-7163, michael.gibson@loras.edu

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Click here for links to other local, state, and national library catalogs.

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