On Campus Services

RESEARCH CENTER WEBPAGE
and TEXTBOOK LOCATER

Welcome to the Research Center Webpage & Textbook Locater. This site, created by Jan Carey, HCC librarian, will direct you to department/program-specific resources and required textbooks for courses offered by the colleges of NHED (Northeast Higher Education District); Hibbing, Itasca, Mesabi, Rainy River and Vermilion. This website is the outcome of a special project funded by the MnSCU Textbook Rental Taskforce: Textbook Rental Pilot Project Program.

What is the Research Center Webpage & Textbook Locater?

The Research Center Webpage (RCW) guides students, faculty and library users through an organized outline of resources primarily directly to Hibbing Community College departments or programs. Using LibData, a library oriented web-based application and Research QuickStart, an authoring system; bibliographic links and listings of library resources are organized for selected programs/departments. A table of contents arranges resources to: Find Articles: journals, magazines, newspapers; Find Books; Find Facts, Definitions,Overviews; and Use Web Sources. The RCW & Textbook Locater allows:

students ready-reference’ tools and ‘quick links’ to existing library resources.
faculty professional bibliographic, organized links to existing library resources.
library users unlimited access anytime, anywhere, to an instructional service component of the HCC library.
faculty assigned ‘outside’ learning activities.
general reference research requested material 24/7.

Under Find Books, users can link to department resources and required textbooks in print or E-book format. The ‘textbook’ portion of RCW is a new resource feature for 2008.

The ‘textbook’ portion is a test project using the following principle objectives:

provide students access to textbooks and supplemental resources thereby reducing textbook costs
provide students simple search techniques and access to textbooks and supplemental resources
provide students ‘one-stop-shop’ access to required textbooks and supplemental resources

The test project required cooperating partners, such as college bookstores, college IT departments, MnSCU/PALS and Minitex. The test project utilized databases provided by Minitex, a publicly supported network of academic, public, state government, and special libraries working cooperatively to improve library service for their users in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and its cooperative purchasing service of database resources; i.e. NetLibrary.

The test project concluded a need to develop special contracts with publishers, such as Pearson, Thomson, MacMillan, to offer specific E-textbooks to meet the needs of students of the Northeast Higher Education District.

What is an E-Textbook?

An E-Textbook uses the same definition as an e-book.

“An e-book (for electronic book: also ebook: also ecobook) is the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book. Such documents are usually read on personal computers, or on dedicated hardware devices known as e-book readers or e-book devices.”

(“E-book.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 May 2008, 09:02 UTC Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 Jun 2008)

How to find a Required Textbook

Students are encouraged to purchase required textbooks through the college’s bookstore. However, student access, to print & E-textbook formatted sources, has always been available using library databases, such as MnPALS and NetLibrary. This ‘locator’ provides a simplified method to access the resources.

To locate a Textbook in print or e-Book format, follow the steps below:

Go to the Research Center Webpage. http://research.hibbing.edu
Select the subject/department needed.
Highlight & click ‘submit’.
Under Find Books, read the titles listed under ‘Course Reserves’.
If the desired textbook is listed, Click ‘CHECK CATALOG’
If necessary, Select a Library Catalog: “All MnPALS Libraries” & click “Search”.

You will be directed to a print or e-book format record for that title.

A book in print format will indicate the location. The location of the print format book will be the Hibbing Community College library or another MnPALS library. The book item record will also provide a link to Google Books for purchasing information.
An e-book format copy of a title will be located in the NetLibrary database.

VIEW and access the Research Center Webpage (RCW). http://research.hibbing.edu

Hibbing Community College is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the Arrowhead University Consortium. Hibbing Community College is accredited by The NCA Higher Learning Commission. Hibbing Community College is an equal opportunity employer and educator.