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With a touchscreen as well as textured buttons, the MagniLink Vision TTS assists readers who have visual impairments.
The library installed a modular video magnifier–the MagniLink Vision TTS reader–which enhances or enables reading of printed books for people with a range of visual impairments. Features of the MagniLink Vision TTS include text-to-speech, adjustable zoom and a variety of background and text contrast modes.
To use the reader, simply open the book or magazine to the desired page and place it on the moveable tray. Turn the reader on. By touching the screen, you can have the reader read the text aloud from the page, in one of three American English voices or two Spanish voices. (Note: this is not a translating device, but it can read Spanish- or English-language text.)
It is easy to learn how to use this tool. If you’d like to use it, please visit the circulation/reference desk at the main campus library in the ERC and ask a librarian for assistance.
Announcing our library’s new reference service, Book A Librarian!
Do you need help doing research for an assignment for class? Want to learn more about searching for resources in general? Want someone to walk you through citing a paper in a new-to-you format? Have a busy schedule and want to make sure that a librarian is available to help you when you come into the library?
Now you can make an appointment with one of the Durham Tech librarians for some one-on-one help!
What we can do:
– Give you a library refresher, including a tour and overview of our resources
– Help you with your research, both using books and online resources
– Teach you how to use databases (and when they’re your best bet)
– Help you learn how to use Microsoft Office for formatting assignments
– Help you cite resources both in MLA and APA style
– Plan a collaborative instruction session (for instructors only)
– Go over resources that could be used for a specific course or assignment (instructors and students)
And much more!
We are unable to help proofread or edit the content of assignments or offer subject-area tutoring during these reservations. We are also unable to help you troubleshoot problems on your personal computer.
Appointments will be assigned to available librarians and must be made at least two days in advance. You will be emailed or telephoned back with confirmation of your appointment. If we are unable to help with your specific issue, we will let you know at this time. Please be prompt– while we understand that circumstances may make you late or need to cancel the appointment, if you are more than 15 minutes late, your reservation will be cancelled.
Please note that reservations are for the Main Campus library ONLY. Please contact library@durhamtech.edu if you would like to set up a meeting with a librarian at either the Orange County or Northern Durham campus.
We look forward to hearing from you!
New look, new layout, new books!
If we don’t have something you need, we can probably get it!
As great a collection as we have, Durham Tech Library doesn’t have ALL the books we’d love to have. With the funding we receive, we try to purchase books most needed to support courses being taught at the college, but we can’t buy everything that we want and that our very diverse users would like. Even if a book isn’t in our immediate collection, though, we might still be able to get access to it, so if you don’t see a book you want, ask us! We can usually get books through interlibrary loan, which is when we borrow a book from another library. To request a book, you can:
or request the item directly from the online catalog. To do this, search the collections of all of the community colleges in North Carolina by selecting “All” (see image to the right), and when you find the item you want, click “Place Hold” on the left side (see image below).
It usually takes at least a week for us to get a book from another library, so please don’t wait until the day before something is due to see what resources you might need.
We can also get articles from other libraries if you can’t find them in our online databases. Anytime you need information or materials, please let us know, and we’ll see if we can get those materials for you.
In addition to our computers upstairs, our main campus (ERC) library is glad to be able to offer a computer lab that is open to all current Durham Tech students!
In the ERC lab, which is down the stairs inside the library and immediately to the right, our lab monitors offer technical support, a scanner is available, and you can print up to 10 black and white pages for free each day. Subsequent black and white pages are 5 cents each, and all color copies are 25 cents each.
The lab is available to students whenever the library is open, except for times when librarians are teaching library instruction classes. During these times, which are posted on the lab door, the lab is reserved for students in these classes only.
We want the lab to be a quiet area dedicated to academic work, so please keep our policies for using the lab in mind:
Let our library staff know if you have any questions, and thank you for complying with our policies and keeping our lab a great place for students to work! And remember, students must also show their current (new or updated) Durham Tech student IDs to enter both the library and the lab.
Whether you’re a new student, returning student, staff or faculty member, the library has resources and services to help your semester be a success, both in person and on our website!
Did you know that in the library you can:
And much more! And all of our databases and other digital resources? You can even access them from home!
Come by and see us! If this is your first time using the library, please remember to bring your updated Durham Tech ID for entry.
At Durham Tech, our students and their academic work are our highest priority. We are excited to introduce you to our new PC Reservation system in the Main Campus library, which is designed to ensure that currently enrolled students will be able to access the upstairs library computers in a more timely manner.
Here are answers to some of the questions you may have about our new system:
What if I am a…
To access our library computers, just log in with your Web Advisor username (last name, first initial, last four digits of your Durham Tech ID number). You may log in up to 5 different times for a computer session. You are allowed180 minutes for each session at all Web Advisor computers except the Express Computer, which limits all sessions to 15 minutes each.
You will need a Guest Pass from the desk to log in, but you may have multiple (up to 5) sessions daily. We will need to see your Durham Tech student ID and we will issue you a library card. Then when you come in, just show us your library card and we will ask you to sign in and then we will issue you your guest pass.
Guests may use one of four designated GUEST computers for one session of up to one hour per day, no extensions. Guests will need a Durham Tech library card in order to receive a guest pass. Each time you come in, we will ask for your library card and have you sign in, then we will issue your guest pass to use a computer.
Patrons must be at least 16 to be issued library cards and use computers. To be issued a public patron library card, guests who are 18 years of age or older should present proof of identification and North Carolina residence at the circulation desk. High school students (not including Durham Tech Middle College students, who have a Web Advisor username) from Orange and Durham Counties need a completed Parental Authorization form as well as identification in order to be issued a library card.
No. You must use your own Web Advisor username and you are limited to one computer at the time.
Yes! Current Durham Tech students, staff, or faculty may set up their own reservations daily.
No. Children under 16 may not use library computers even under parental supervision.
Important Information Regarding Children in the Library:
Children are not allowed to be left alone in the library– we want children to be safe! If space is available, children may sit beside parents working on computers upstairs. Children are not allowed in the downstairs computer lab, which is for the use of currently enrolled students only.
Please note that all computers will time out and log off your session after 15 minutes of inactivity, so be sure to save your work and monitor any time away.
The PC reservation system is also installed in the computer lab downstairs, and students will need to log in using their Web Advisor username there as well. Remember that the lab is only for currently enrolled students; you’ll need to show your Durham Tech student ID with a current sticker and sign in.
This system is new to us as well as to you, so we appreciate your patience as we work out the kinks. Please ask us if you need help or if you have questions!
We have a white board set up in the library to collect feedback about your library experiences. You can also use this blog to share your opinions. 
Feel free to answer the following questions by submitting a comment.
We really value your feed feedback. Thanks for your time. 
It’s close to time for exams, but the library has another kind of testing already going on. We’re trying out new chat software that lets us IM with students, faculty, or anyone else who needs assistance. To start talking with us, go to the library homepage and click on the chat icon in the middle of the page, near the bottom. If we’re available to chat, the icon looks like:
If we’re not available, a different icon indicates that we’re away. Chat with us, and let us know what you think! We hope that this will help library services be more widely accessible, helping us reach patrons who may not be able to come into the library because of distance, work schedules, or other issues. Even if you’re in the library, though, we’d love to chat with you!