Access & Borrowing
Merritt College faculty have library access and borrowing privileges and are welcome to use the Library’s facilities, resources, and services. If you have a Peralta email address, then you have an active library patron account. You may access library databases and other electronic resources off campus by logging in with your Peralta Faculty Portal credentials.
Collection Development
All faculty are encouraged to collaborate with librarians to review existing library collections, to recommend library items for weeding, and to request purchases of library materials relating to their respective disciplines or programs. To schedule a collection development consultation or request a purchase, please contact Nghiem Thai at nthai@peralta.edu. All requests are evaluated in accordance with the Library’s collection development policy, and acquisition is contingent upon the availability of funds. If approved for purchase, it may take 4-8 weeks for ordering and processing.
Course Reserves
Teaching faculty may place their own copies of textbooks and other course materials (lab manuals, solutions manuals, study guides, etc.) on reserve for students to borrow. Reserve materials may be checked out for two hours at a time for use in the Library only. If you would like to place an item on reserve, please bring it to the Circulation Desk and fill out a Reserve Materials Form. To request that the Library purchase a textbook for the reserve collection or for further information, please contact Christana Forlastro, Senior Library Technician, at cforlastro@peralta.edu.
Instruction & Orientation
The library offers LIS 085: Introduction to Information Resources, a 2-unit, online class, which fulfills the general education requirement for computer literacy and is transferable to both CSU and UC. If you would like your students to become information literate and competent researchers, encourage them to take LIS 085. Please contact the instructor, Adoria Williams at arwilliams@peralta.edu, for further information.
Librarians provide general orientations and course- or assignment-specific workshops on library research. Instructors may request orientations for their students by submitting the Orientation Request Form at least two weeks prior to the desired date of the orientation. Confirmation of the date, time, and location of the orientation session shall be e-mailed, once it has been scheduled.
Embed a librarian in your class! The Merritt College library encourages faculty to embed Reference/Instructional Librarians within their courses for ease and efficiency of student-librarian-faculty communication. Librarians may be embedded in both virtual and in-person class environments. An embedded librarian is one of our Merritt College librarians, officially assigned to your class. Their job is to support you and your students with library resources and to facilitate information literacy as appropriate for your course. For more details about embedding a librarian, please refer to our guide, “Embedding a Librarian in Your Class.”
For more information, please email ask@merritt.libanswers.com.
Open Educational Resources (OER)
If you are interested in adopting OER textbooks and materials for your classes, the Library has you covered. A good place to start learning about OER is our online guide, “Open Educational Resources (OER) for Faculty.” To request assistance from a librarian, please email ask@merritt.libanswers.com.