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Frequently Asked Questions

LOSS OF BOOK

1. I have lost a book I borrowed from the library! What do I do?
You must immediately contact the Assistant Librarian (Circulation Section) or the Incharge, Circulation Section/Course Books Unit and report the loss of book. You will be required to replace the lost book with a new copy.

LOSS OF BORROWER’S CARD(S)

2. I have lost my library borrower’s card(s). What do I do?
You must immediately contact the Assistant Librarian (Circulation Section) or the Incharge, Circulation Section/Course Books Unit and report the loss of borrower’s card(s) and provide relevant information. Duplicate borrower’s card(s) will be issued on payment of a nominal fee.

OBTAINING ITEMS NOT AVAILABLE IN THE LIBRARY

3. How do I obtain a journal article, or chapter(s) of a book not available in the NEHU Central Library or other libraries in the region?
On ascertaining the non-availability of the item in the NEHU Central Library or other libraries in Shillong/North-Eastern Region, you are advised to print the request form for Document Delivery Service and submit it to the Documentation Officer. Your request will be forwarded to the designated Document Delivery Centre or directly to INFLIBNET Centre, Ahmedabad. While filling in the form, you must decide the format in which you need the material and the mode of delivery (ordinary post/speed post/courier/e-mail attachment/fax). The cost of photocopying/scanning/fax transmission and postage & handling charges will have to be borne by you. The request form for Document Delivery Service is available with the Documentation Officer. Students and research scholars must submit the form through their supervisors.

CITATION VERIFICIATION/REFERENCE AUTHENTICATION

4. How do I get authentic references or verify the references I have cited for my research topic/proposal?
The NEHU Central Library now provides Citation Verification Service. To avail of the service, you can contact, or print the request form and submit it to, the Documentation Officer. The results of the authentication process will be sent to you through the mode of delivery preferred by you. Students and research scholars must submit the form through their supervisors.

LOCATING A LIBRARY MATERIAL

5. I am not able to locate a particular book/current journal/back volume/ thesis/dissertation. What do I do?
First of all, kindly confirm whether the material you need is available in the NEHU Central Library through the OPAC terminals located near the entrance or through the Web OPAC on the NEHU Central Library’s website. You may then approach the Library Attendant on duty in the stack area to help you in locating the required material. If you are still not successful in locating the item, please feel free to approach the Assistant Librarian (Circulation Section) in person for further assistance.

6. I have found a book on the Library’s OPAC which I need to consult, but the book has no call number assigned to it. How do I locate the book?
The book that you have found on the Library’s OPAC is “under process”, which means that the bibliographical details of the book have been entered in the database but the book has not yet been assigned its unique class number and author mark/volume number/copy number etc. In such cases, kindly note down the available bibliographic details of the book and submit the same to the Assistant Librarian (Technical Section) so that arrangements can be made to provide the book to you for consultation/photocopying.

LIBRARY CONSULTATION FOR OUTSIDERS

7. I am a student/research scholar from another institution and would like to consult the NEHU Central Library for a short period. What is the procedure?
You have to furnish a request letter from your head of the department/institution or research supervisor for seeking permission. You will have to fill in the application form and furnish proof of identity for availing consultation facility and submit the same to the Assistant Librarian (Circulation Section).

BIBLIOGRAPHY/READING LIST

8. I need a bibliography/reading list on a specific topic in connection with my dissertation /research /project work. How can the NEHU Central Library help me?
The Documentation Section of the NEHU Central Library provides support to students, research scholars and faculty of the university by compiling and maintaining bibliographies on diverse topics of contemporary interest. The Documentation Section also honours requests for compilation of bibliographies on specific topics. You may fill in the request form and submit it to the Documentation Officer.

ACCESS TO e-JOURNALS/DATABASES and ELECTRONIC THESES & DISSERTATION (ETD) FACILITIES

9. Why am I not able to access the online journals available through e-ShodhSindhu Consortium and/or the online versions of the print journals subscribed by NEHU Central Library?
Online Access to e-journals are activated by the publishers through their respective websites. Also, at times slow Internet Connectivity may prevent you from accessing these resources. All journals and datbases subscribed by e-ShodhSindhu Consortium and DelCON Consortium are electronically accessible. Activation of all e-resources for NEHU are done through IP Authentication. That is, users do not require a username and password to access these e-resources. In case you are prompted with a username and password while accessing them, check the coverage status(from which year or volume it is accessible) for that particular journal in case it is an e-resource accesible through the e-ShodhSindhu Consortium or DelCON Consortium. To know the coverage etc. kindly view/download the list of titles available from INFLIBNET and DelCON websites. Links to these website are provided on the library homepage. To clarify your doubts, related with the accessibility you may also contact the Information Scientist.

10. I wish to avail the ETD facilities offered by the LIbrary, whom do I approached?

Library members are requested to contact the Librarian in connection with ETD facilities in the Library including the use of Anti-Plagiarism software for their research work.

 

ACCESS TO LIBRARY FACILITIES FOR THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED

11.Does the Library have any facilities for the Physically Challanged?

The Library have a special Book Reader device meant specifically for the visually challenged library members. To use the facility, you may also contact the Information Scientist.

ERROR ON LIBRARY WEBPAGE

12. I seem to be getting an error when I access a webpage from the library’s website. What is happening?
While we can not be sure what the problem is, it may be caused by a pop up blocker. Most of the links provided on the NEHU Library’s homepage open in new windows. Note that a popup blocker may potentially block these windows. This is often a configurable option in your browser. Check the "help" in your browser for information. If you would like more assistance, please contact the Information Scientist.

LIBRARY OPENING HOURS

13. What are the library opening hours and the specific hours for issue/return of books?
The NEHU Central Library is open from 8.00 A.M. to 7.00 P.M. on regular working days, and from 10.00 A.M. to 4.00 P.M. on Saturdays/holidays. The Main Transaction Counter remains open from 9.00 A.M. to 5.30 P.M. and the Course Books Transaction Counter remains open from 9.00 A.M. to 5.30 P.M. Prior and during end-semester examinations the NEHU Central Library is open from 8.00 A.M. to 8.00 P.M. Library is closed on Sundays and national holidays.

OFF-CAMPUS ACCESS TO LIBRARY RESOURCES

14. Can I access NEHU Library resources from outside the NEHU Campus?
Most of the electronic resources available in and through the Library can be accessed within the NEHU campus by NEHU students, research scholars, faculty and staff through the campus network. However, off-campus access to licensed databases and e-journals are made accessible to registered library members through this Remote Access Portal. Presently, some of the databases on CD-ROM hosted on the Library’s Network Attached Storage can be accessed only within the Library. Other services, such as request forms, can be accessed from outside the campus.

COPYRIGHT/FAIR USE/PUBLIC DOMAIN WORKS

15. What is Copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection provided by law to the authors/creators of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. For further information see Indian Copyright Act. Copyright generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
• To reproduce the work in copies;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the original work;
• To distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
• To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
• In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
• Literary works
• Musical works, including any accompanying words
• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• Pantomimes and choreographic works
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works

16. What is "fair use”?
The use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research is considered as “fair use” and is not an infringement of copyright.

17. What is the public domain?
The public domain, in the context of copyright law, is generally defined as consisting of works that are either ineligible for copyright protection or with expired copyrights. No permission whatsoever is needed to copy or use public domain works. Public domain works and information represent some of the most critical information that faculty members and students rely upon. Public domain works can serve as the foundation for new creative works and can be quoted extensively. They can also be copied and distributed to classes or digitized and placed on course Web pages without permission or paying royalties.

18. What types of works make up the public domain?
Categories of material that are generally not eligible for copyright protection include:
• Ideas and facts
• Works with expired copyrights
• Works governed by early copyright statutes that failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection, i.e., notice, registration, and renewal requirements
• Scientific principles, theorems, mathematical formulae, laws of nature
• Scientific and other research methodologies, statistical techniques and educational processes
• Laws, regulations, judicial opinions, government documents and legislative reports
• Words, names, numbers, symbols, signs, rules of grammar and diction, and punctuation

19. What about copyright for Web resources?
Before you decide to copy/save/print materials from the Internet, always keep in mind the following rules of thumb:
a)Assume that copyright protects almost all works on the Web.
b)Fair use generally favours non-fiction over fiction and other creative works. The use of scientific or other fact-based works is more likely to lean in favour of fair use than would the use of excerpts from artistic or creative works.
c)The shorter the excerpt the more likely it will be fair use. Be sure that you use only the amount that serves specific educational goals.
d)Always credit the sources of your information. Even though proper attribution does not make a use fair, attribution is important for intellectual honesty.
e)Find out if the author of a work (e.g., text, video, audio, or graphic) provides information on how to use his/her work. If explicit guidelines exist, be sure to follow them.
f)When in doubt, ask the owner of the copyright for permission. Keep a copy of your request for permission and the permission received.

g) Systematically downloading of scholarly full-text electronic literature with the help of software tools from respective commercial publishers official websites in which NEHU and other Consortium bodies have signed license access agreement with is prohibited.