Hi, all!
Welcome back to school! The fall 2018 semester has begun. By this time, most FIT students have had the first session of all of their new classes. To get you warmed up for fall, I thought I would list some resources available to FIT students here in the library.
The Library at FIT is on 3 floors of the Goodman Resource Center. That’s the building on the southwest corner of 7th avenue and 27th street. The Museum at FIT is in the lobby and basement of this building*. You enter the Gladys Marcus Library on the 5th floor. To get to the library spaces on the 6th floor and the 4th floor, take the stairwell inside the library.
Here are basic pointers about the library, on our website.
You can look up books and DVDs and any of the other things we have in StyleCat, our online catalog. The most common question about our holdings is “do you have my textbook?” Maybe. We don’t buy textbooks, but a lot of professors bring us copies to put on reserve at the Access Services Desk. You look these up in StyleCat by either title, author’s name, or course number. The folks at the ACS desk need the call number (letters then numbers that tell where the book is filed) to find the book you need. Here is more information about finding library materials.
If you need help researching something for a project, we have a series of research guides online to get you started. These list useful directories, databases, books, and other resources, including how to cite your sources correctly in several different formats.
If you’re already on campus, it might help to talk to one of our librarians or reference associates at the Research Information Desk. This desk is across from the Access Services Desk on the 5th floor where you enter the library.
If you’re home working on a project, you can contact RIS people for a chat (during business hours).
These are the library’s fall 2018 hours.
On the 4th floor of the library there are two departments, the Periodicals and Electronic Resources Services (PERS) and the Special Collections and College Archives Services (SPARC). PERS is where our hundreds of magazines, look books, and catalogs live. Any student can come down and browse these materials in the library. SPARC houses our archives of sketchbooks, old magazines, fashion plates and college ephemera. You need to make an appointment to use SPARC. If you are not a member of the FIT community and you want to use the library for research, you also need an appointment.
To make a Visitor appointment for general library materials.
On the library’s 6th floor, there is are several computer labs, picture files, and the Art Resources Lab, which is a big open space with many tools to help you work on projects. You can also check out photography equipment from the ACS desk on 5. The library hosts regular Maker Minds events in this space, where students get to experiment with new tech toys. There is also a regular Lego Free Play from noon-2pm on announced days. Check the library’s website of FB feed for the next events.
Welcome back to school!
*This is the website for the Museum at FIT.