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Course & Subject Guides

Tips for Navigating Owen Library - Johnstown Campus: About the Library

Don't get lost in Owen Library! Learn how to find and access various resources & services available at Owen Library or through Pitt's University Library System.

Welcome to Owen Library

Part of Pitt's University Library System (ULS), Owen Library on the University of Pittsburgh's Johnstown Campus offers research and leisure collections, study space, and computers. We provide academic and research support to the Pitt-Johnstown community.

Summertime photo of the front facade of Owen Library building with a yellow Pitt-Johnstown banner on lamp post in foreground.

This guide is adapted from a guide authored by Ellen Sexton from Lloyd Sealy Library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Library Hours

**Please visit the Owen Library website for holiday and intersession hours.**

Fall and Spring Hours

Mon 8:00 a.m.- 10:30 p.m.
Tue 8:00 a.m.- 10:30 p.m.
Wed 8:00 a.m.- 10:30 p.m.
Thu 8:00 a.m.- 10:30 p.m.
Fri 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Sat CLOSED  
Sun 2:00 p.m.- 10:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Hours

Mon 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Tue 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Wed 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Thu 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Fri 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
Sat CLOSED  
Sun CLOSED  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Help

When you do research for your classes, you shouldn't hesitate to ask a librarian for assistance. Determining which resources you should search, knowing how to search them, and being able to evaluate newly found information are skills you will need to learn. Becoming a savvy researcher may take a while. In the meantime, you can count on the librarians to help guide you through the research process.

You can connect with a librarian by . . .

Library Collections & Locations

When searching the online catalog, PittCat, be sure to note the collection location of the item as well as its call number. Your valid University of Pittsburgh ID card is your library card. Present it to borrow circulating materials and for certain in-library services. see also Owen Library Floor Plans (PDF) 

First Floor

REFERENCE COLLECTION:

1st Floor book stacks, near the elevator. Reference books and other non-circulating material may be used only within the library. If you wish to copy something from a particular source, there are two public scanners on the 1st Floor. 

OVERSIZE COLLECTION:

1st Floor, on the west side of the library, towards Biddle Hall. Oversize shelving accommodates General Collection books that are larger in size (like coffee-table books). 

ATLASES:

1st Floor, on the west side of the library, towards Biddle Hall. Atlases may be used only within the library.

JOURNALS:

1st Floor book stacks, near the elevator. A small collection of academic journals and popular magazines, including current issues/news magazines and newspapers, are shelved alphabetically by title. Periodicals may be borrowed for 7 days (no renewals and a 3 item limit). 

COURSE RESERVES:

1st Floor, behind the Information Desk. Most course reserves materials may be used only within the library. Ask at the Information Desk for assistance.

AUDIO CDS:

1st Floor, near the restrooms. CDs may be borrowed for 2 weeks (1 renewal and a 10 item limit).

VIDEOS:

1st Floor, near the restrooms. Videos (DVDs) may be borrowed for 2 weeks (1 renewal and a 10 item limit) or viewed within the library, either in the Media Room on the 1st Floor or on a portable DVD player.

ALLDRED COLLECTION:

1st Floor book stacks, near the elevator. The Peter Alldred Memorial Collection offers contemporary fiction and nonfiction titles on popular topics published generally within the past 2-3 years. Alldred books circulate for 4 weeks with 1 renewal.

GAMES:

1st Floor study area, near the stairwell to the 2nd Floor.

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

1st Floor book stacks, near the elevator.

YOUNG ADULT: 

1st Floor book stacks, near the elevator.

Second Floor

GENERAL COLLECTION:

2nd Floor book stacks. General Collection books circulate for one academic year with the due date at the end of the spring term.

CURRICULUM ROOM:

2nd Floor, to the right of the main stairwell. The Curriculum and Juvenile Collections provide a variety of teaching materials that support the pre-service teaching and learning of students enrolled in the Pitt-Johnstown Education programs. These materials may be borrowed for 4 weeks.

ARCHIVES

These are restricted collections and may not be borrowed. Request to use these items at the Information Desk.