Libros en Español

The Darling Library has a pretty good collection of books in Spanish largely due to a purchase we made with the help of the Instituto Biblico Crossmont which operates under the Hope International University umbrella to train ministers in Spanish. (See our story on this blog in September, 2012.)

One Crossmont class on tools for biblical exegesis and literary analysis meets on the main Fullerton campus on Monday nights. Unfortunately, during the summer the library closes before they arrive on campus. Nevertheless, their professor arranged to have a special library orientation after hours during class time this week.

They were most interested in learning how to get books. All books are shelved by Dewey Decimal Classification corresponding to the subject, regardless of language so the first step is to learn how to use WorldCat Local Advanced Search options to find a book written in Spanish.

If your first language is Spanish, it is also helpful to know that you can set WorldCat to a Spanish interface to search in your preferred language.

Here's how:

• Go to the Library Home Page (http://library.hiu.edu)
• Advanced Search (under the search box in the middle of the page)
• Scroll to the bottom of the page
• Click on Español (or another preferred language)

The WorldCat Advanced Search page will be transformed to Búsqueda avanzada para usted!

To find books in our library that are written in Spanish, search with these three limitations applied:

• Library/Biblioteca: Hope International University
• Format/Formato: Book (Libro)
• Language/Idioma: Spanish (Español) - NOTE: languages are listed alphabetically according to English so Español appears on the list under S for Spanish.

Then enter search terms such as Keyword (Palabra clave), Title (Título), or Author (Autor) and click on the Search/Buscar button.

Once you find a book you want in WorldCat Local, make note of the call number and go look for it on the shelves.

Crossmont students were also instructed on how to access their new library accounts from home so they can put books on hold to pick up later when they come to campus. Since the library is not open in the evenings during the summer we have arranged for the professor to deliver their requested library books in class.

Although I don't speak Spanish, Professor Fernando Soto-Dupuy is a very good translator and several students speak English as well. We managed to communicate and every student ended up checking out at least one book before they left!

Bueno!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Robin Hartman is Director of Library Services at Hope International University. She is curious about how the organization and communication of information shapes society and is committed to equipping students to impact the world for Christ.