User Guidance

Library Hours

Regular Hours (Weekdays)	9:00–21:00
Regular Hours (Saturdays)	10:00–18:00
Reduced Hours (Weekdays)	9:00–17:00　* No change in Saturday hours during the long holiday.

* Note that the library will be closed at 16:00 on the day before entrance examinations.

* However, on-campus students who desire extended hours, for example, due to training placement constraints, can use the library until 19:00 on the condition that an “Application for Special Student Library Access During the Entrance Exam Preparation Period” is submitted to the Library Director and Entrance Examination Chairperson.

Library Closures

The library is closed on Sundays and national holidays, during the year-end and New Year holidays (from December 28 to January 4), during our collection inventory, on the university’s anniversary (May 29), and on the day before and day of the entrance examination.

* Since the library may occasionally be closed on other dates, please refer to the library’s calendar before planning your visit.

Further Notes for Library Users

• Readers are responsible for taking care of their own valuables. Maintain silence in the hall.
• Readers may bring drinks into the library, as long as they have a sealable lid (such as in a plastic bottle). Smoking is strictly prohibited.
• The use of mobile phones is prohibited.
• Please note that although the library may remain open, certain services such as user registration, cash transactions, and reference searches are unavailable after 19:00.

Borrowing Materials

• Students are required to provide their student ID card when borrowing materials. Note that faculty members and staff are asked to provide their library pass, whereas general users are asked to provide their Special Borrowing Privileges Card.
• General users who wish to borrow books are asked to fill out the application form for a Special Borrowing Privileges Card at the counter and submit it to staff along with a piece of personal identification card (such as a driver’s license, health insurance card, and student ID card).
• Books with accompanying CDs or other media can be borrowed from the counter.
• Readers who wish to renew loans must bring the materials in question to the counter. These will be reissued after checking to ensure that they have not been reserved by other readers.
• For reserving books that are out on loan, please inquire at the counter.
• Failure to return materials overdue by 14 days or more will result in the suspension of borrowing privileges. Failure to return borrowed materials is a nuisance to other users who observe the returns deadline. Please be sure to return materials by the due date.
• Reference books, rare books, audiovisual materials, statistical texts, white papers, periodicals, bulletins, research reports, and other materials affixed with an In-Library Use Only sticker cannot be borrowed or taken out of the library.
• Books held in the laboratory cannot be borrowed.
• Library use by general users will be limited during the test period.

Loan term and Borrowing limit

User Category	Loan term	Borrowing Limit
General (off-campus)	2 weeks	3 books
Alumni and graduates	3 weeks	5 books
Undergraduate students (on-campus)	2 weeks	10 books
Master’s students (on-campus)	1 month	10 books
Doctoral students (on-campus)	1 month	20 books
Faculty and Staff (on-campus)	1 month	20 books

Loan Renewals

Loan renewals are possible only once, if the book in question has not been reserved by another user.

Reservations

Reserving books that are out on loan ensures that you will have borrowing priority once the materials have been returned.

Books that cannot be borrowed

Lexicons, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Statistical Data, Indices, Periodicals, and Newspapers.

Returns

Please return borrowed books to the counter.

Indication of Accompanying Multimedia

Materials with accompanying multimedia, such as cassette tapes or CD-ROMs, are indicated by a circular red sticker affixed next to the bar code.

Guide to the Library

Readers who plan to use their own personal computer in the library are requested to contact the counter in advance.

Counter

Library staff will provide comprehensive guidance to the IPNU Library, including information on loans, returns, and the reference service. Readers with concerns or in need of guidance are invited to ask here for help.

Periodicals Shelf

Newly arrived periodicals are respectively arranged in alphabetical order according to the Japanese syllabary and English alphabet.

Open Stacks

Readers are welcome to view the books in the reading room as they wish.
Please return materials to the original position after you are done.

New Arrivals

Newly acquired books are exhibited here. Readers can also borrow these books.

Multimedia Area

Readers can watch multimedia content, such as on video or cassette tapes, the 2nd floor. DVD cases are located on the shelves. Readers wishing to view DVDs are asked to borrow headphones and follow the procedure of its use by bringing the case of the desired film to the counter and presenting their student ID cards (video tapes are stored in the main case).
Please be sure to return materials to the counter after use.

Ganba ROOM

The Ganba ROOM on the second floor can be used for various purposes, including self-study, research, and meetings. It can be reserved for use by groups for up to three hours at a time.
Readers who wish to reserve the Ganba ROOM are asked to submit an application form before use.

Searching for Publications

Shelving Conventions

Nursing science publications are classified according to the Nursing Book Classification Conventions of the Japan Nursing Association. Other publications are classified by subject and shelved on the basis of the 9th edition of the Nippon Decimal Classification (NDC).

User Terminals

Catalog information of materials held by IPNU Library can be searched at the User Terminal. Readers can perform searches on the basis of key words from the title, author’s name, or publisher, regardless of the type of publication.

Call Numbers

Labels affixed at the back of books are printed with call numbers, indicating shelving position, and are made up of the classification code, author code, and volume code.
Please ask at the counter regarding missing books.

Guide to Services

Reference Service

Available to readers who wish to consult about readings or track down the whereabouts of bibliographic sources.

Mutual Use Services

Copy Requests (University Members Only)

On-campus students and alumni can submit external requests for copies of materials not held on campus. Please submit a Materials Photocopy Application Form.

Borrowing Books

Readers may be able to borrow and use books not held in the campus library by requesting these from other universities and institutions.

Database Service

Readers can search databases such as MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the Japan Medical Abstracts Society.

Copying Service

Readers are asked to use the coin-operated copy machine provided in the library. Copies cost 10 yen per page. After completing any copying, be sure to submit a completed Application to Copy Library Materials, available at the counter. Furthermore, please ensure that every copying complies with applicable copyright laws.

Other Rules

• Readers are requested to remain quiet inside the library. Reading aloud, chatting, eating and drinking, smoking, using mobile phones, and disturbing other readers are prohibited.
• Acts such as writing in books, cutting out pages, discarding or otherwise defacing books are prohibited.
• Individuals who do not comply with library regulations may be asked to leave or will be banned for a certain period.

Lost, Defaced, or Damaged Materials

Readers who lose, damage, or spoil materials are requested to inform at the counter. The library asks that such books be replaced with an identical book as compensation.