Student Guide to the Media Center

Where do we begin?  Keyword
The word keyword is used extensively in our digital age of internet searches and online databases. You will retrieve the best information when you choose keywords that truly define the information you are looking for.

What is a database?
The word database was only added to the dictionary in 1962.  Merriam Webster’s Online Dictionary defines it as “a usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer).”

OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog)
The OPAC at Bullard-Havens is a database of all the books in the Media Center and it is not available outside of Bullard-Havens.  If you want to find a book on a specific topic choose a keyword that truly defines the book you are looking for.  Some databases, including OPAC, require that you type the correct spelling in order for the word to be recognized.  You can even get different results by typing a word in its plural form.

Searching for a Book Using the OPAC
There are three methods to use when searching the OPAC and they are:

Finding a Book in the Media Center
After completing your search using the OPAC you will be given a call number that begins with either a Dewey decimal number or with alphabet letters.  The call number identifies where the book is located.

Dewey Decimal Numbers
Dewey decimal numbers, named after Melvil Dewey, are used to organize the nonfiction books.  These books are assigned numbers from 1 to 999 depending upon the information found in the book.  Dewey decimal numbers begin with the call number and the letters that follow are the first three letters of the authors last name.  The entire call number appears on the label that is found on the spine of the book.  The shelves for these books are also clearly labeled with Dewey decimal numbers.
Sometimes letters come before a Dewey decimal number and these tell us that the book is kept in a special section.  In the Media Center the sections include:

Fiction

Nonfiction