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City of Gloucester
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|| Collection || Electronic Resources | | Genealogy || Local History || Internet || Computers || Microfilm || Interlibrary ||
Reference
Online Reference Bookshelf
The Reference Department of the Sawyer Free Library has a wide variety of materials and services to meet your informational needs and answer your reference questions. The reference staff will assist you either in person or by telephone. We have print sources, electronic resources, and microfilm and microfiche machines. Take a look at our local history collection or sign up for Internet access or our word processing computers. You can also borrow materials from other libraries through interlibrary loan.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
The reference collection contains materials in a wide variety of subject areas. Some types of reference books include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, indexes, handbooks and directories. These books must be used in the library and can't be checked out. In some cases there are second copies or older editions in the circulating collection that can be checked out.
During the income tax season we provide income tax forms, instructions, and publications. We have books of reproducible income tax forms, current and past years, that are available throughout the year. On the Business Reference Table you will find such sources as Value Line for stocks, Morningstar Mutual Funds, the Million Dollar Directory, Standard & Poor's the Outlook, etc. The Atlas Table houses oversize atlases.
Some often-used reference books such as The Physicians' Desk Reference, the Merck Manual, Writer's Market, and N.A.D.A. Official Used Car Guide are kept at the reference desk. We also have informational materials on car buying and genealogy at the reference desk.
The library has access to a variety of electronic resources that are available to patrons both in the building and remotely. Periodical databases provide thousands of magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online. Grolier Online includes the Encyclopedia Americana. Novelist is a reader's advisory program to help you select works of fiction. First Search selects web sites and provides access to a national catalog of 4,000,000 titles. Click here for the electronic resources page.
GENEALOGY
The library owns various types of genealogical materials. We have vital records from Gloucester and other cities and towns. There are also city directories from 1860 to the present, maps, family histories, a Lost at Sea File,census records from 1790-1920, newspapers from 1827 to the present on microfilm, oral histories, city records, some early Massachusetts records, military records, genealogical periodicals, etc. A Selective Guide to Genealogical Resources and a copy of Gloucester, Massachusetts Town and City Records Guide as well as some other genealogical materials are available at the reference desk. Most materials must be used in the library.
LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTION
Materials about Gloucester or by or about Gloucester people are housed on the Gloucester Shelf and/or in Active Storage. The original copy is in Active Storage and must be accessed by a librarian. It may not be checked out. If there is a duplicate it will be on the Gloucester Shelf and may be checked out. The collections also contain some materials on Cape Ann and Essex County. The Cape Ann Vertical File is a collection of indexed periodical clippings relating to Gloucester. These materials must be accessed by a librarian and used in the library.
INTERNET ACCESS
The library has computers with graphical Internet access in the adult department. A copy of the library's Internet Use Policy is available at the Main Desk and at the Reference Desk.. There is a charge of $.15 per page to print. Patrons must sign up in person and are allowed one 30 minute session per day. In order to use the adult Internet computers patrons must be at least in the seventh grade.. Patrons are responsible for setting up their own e-mail accounts. On our Internet menu we provide access to such sites as federal and state tax forms, the Boston Globe online, Medline Plus health information, Infotrac and EBSCO periodical databases, Grolier Encyclopedias Online, Massachusetts Physician Profiles, FastWEB scholarship search, telephone directories, job listings links, etc.
WORD PROCESSING COMPUTERS
The library provides computers in the adult section for word processing. The work stations have Microsoft Word and Excel 2000 installed. Printing is available on all three. There is a charge of $.15 per page, payable at the main desk when you pick up your prints. Disks are available for purchase at $1.00 apiece.
MICROFILM AND MICROFICHE MACHINES
Microfilm and microfiche machines are available for patron use. Materials available on microfilm include the Gloucester Daily Times from 1888 to the present, the Boston Globe from 1994 to 2001, older Gloucester newspapers starting from 1827, the census from 1790-1920, and other materials. On microfiche we have vital statistics and some periodicals. The copying charge for both machines is $.25 per page.
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
If a patron wants an item that the library doesn't own it can be requested from another library through interlibrary loan. Books, audiovisual materials and periodical articles can be requested. Rental materials cannot be requested. The lending library determines how long items can circulate. Patrons requesting periodical articles will usually receive photocopies or faxes.
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