Welcome to the Reference & Reader Services Unit
The Circulation and Reader Services department operates from two campuses: the Ringway Campus and the North Dzorwulu Campus. It has very rich collection to support learning, teaching, and research in Journalism, Public Relations, Development Communication, Media and Digital Management, and other subject areas.
- Students ID card shall be required in all forms of borrowing
- Borrowed books that are due must be returned to the Circulation Desk, irrespective of which campus the books were borrowed from.
- Borrowed books may be renewed again and again if no reader requests for that book.
- No book is to be written in, cut, defaced, or damaged in any way.
- Readers must not trace any picture of figure from any book/material.
- Users will be held responsible for any damage to a book in their possession and will be required to pay the appropriate cost of such damaged books.
- Overdue material: Ghc1.50p per item per day.
- Overdue for Faculty, Ghc1.00 per item per day.
- Lost material: Twice the current price of the item, plus processing charge of One Hundred Ghana Cedis (Ghc100)
Offences and Sanctions
For unlawful acquisition/stealing of the library materials, the following sanctions shall be applied:
Ordinary books: The member shall lose borrowing rights for one semester.
Rare books: The member shall lose the right to use the library for two semesters.
For mutilation of books and materials: a member shall lose borrowing rights for two semesters.
Borrowing Priveleges:
- Student’s ID shall be requested in all manner of borrowing.
- Users are entitled to borrow three books from the main shelves for two weeks.
- Renewals: Materials or items may be renewed again provided no reader has asked for the material.
- Newspapers, journals, periodicals, reference books, research works, and past questions may not be borrowed.
General Regulations
- Silence must always be observed in the library.
- Smoking is forbidden in all parts of the library.
- No food or drink is allowed in any part of the library. These includes toffees, fruits etc.
- Seats cannot be reserved. Seats left empty for a long time will be given away.
- Books will not be issued to students without a student ID card.
- Orderly conduct must always be maintained in all parts of the library.
- Cell phones should be put to silence.
- Reference materials should not be taken out of the library
Resources
- Print collection – The Library holds over 1,000 print books covering areas of Journalism, Public Relations, Development Communication, Psychology, Law, Commerce, Advertising, Marketing, Sociology, Linguistics, Media and Communication, English Language and General Literature, Media and Digital Management, French, and other subject areas. Furthermore, there is an extensive collection of print journals that give insights and trends in journalism and the practices of the past. While the collection continues to grow with new acquisitions, it provides a broader coverage of subject areas.
- Electronic resources – The Library has access to many e-books, e-journals and academic databases that are relevant to the library’s collection. This enables library patrons to search, retrieve, and use resources remotely. Examples of the database are Oxford References, Sage Journals, Ebscohost, Wiley, Taylor and Francis, Emerald, Credo Reference, and JSTOR.
- Bound Newspapers – The purpose of the newspaper collection is to support the research and teaching needs of the University faculty and students. It covers several years dating back to early 2000s and covers lots of the dailies like Daily Graphic, Daily Guide, Mirror, The Spectator etc.
- Past questions – Past examination questions are made available to familiarize students, especially, with the styles of question that they may face in the end of semester exams. They are available in print at the circulation desk and in electronic format.
- Wi-Fi – All patrons can enjoy the free 24/7 wireless internet access available at both library locations. There are no data usage or time limits on the Wi-Fi.
Services
- Reference services – Patrons are assisted in the location and retrieval of information relevant to their information needs. Daily newspapers are always available for use .
- Selective Dissemination Information Services/Information request – Librarians conduct regular searches of databases to find references to new articles or other materials that fit a particular patron’s interest profile and forward the results to the patron. All patrons can as well make special requests from the Library through the available platforms and are assured of prompt feedback.
- Press cutting – Newspapers are a useful source of research information. However, without proper preservation and indexing services information from newspapers is difficult to access. The Library provides directory to stories in the dailies on relevant subject areas. Through a systematic press cutting scheme, access to newspaper information is sufficiently enhanced.
- Reference Textbooks
- Reference sources such as bonded newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps, and African Writer’s series.
- Journals
- Past questions
- Dissertation