About the IM Center  |  DVDs and Videos  | Find IM Center Books  |  Award Books  |  Kits - Games - Teaching Aids

About the IM Center

     The Instructional Materials Center houses materials commonly found in a school media center as well as Kent Library's video and DVD collection. Take advantage of the comfy seating and large group work tables. DVD players, TVs, and VCRs are available for use. You will always find a friendly face behind the IM Center service desk if you need any help! The IM Center is located on the 3rd floor of Kent Library. To locate the IM Center, go up the marble stairs outside the administrative offices. The IM Center is directly in front of the top of the stairs.

     The IM Center phone number is 573-651-2234. Please call if you have any questions.

Instructional Materials Center Regular Semester Hours
Sunday	1:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Monday - Thursday	7:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Friday	7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Saturday	1:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
*Hours for holidays, breaks, summer session & finals, etc. may vary.

     The IM Center has over 10,000 videos and over 600 DVDs. To find DVDs and videos, use the Kent Library Catalog. There are many ways to find DVDs and Videos in the catalog. If there is a known title, use the title search.

To perform a keyword search limited to DVDs and videos follow these steps:

1. From the Kent Library Catalog main search page Select "advanced keyword."
2. When the menu appears, type in a keyword.
3. To limit to films, use the drop-down menu next to "Material Type" and select VIDEO/FILM.
4. Click search and the results will be displayed.

     The IM Center also offers ways to browse the Video & DVD collection. The IM Center customer service desk keeps a browsing bin of many of the videos and DVDs offered. To see complete lists in the catalog, click here for DVDs and here for Videos.

 

The IM Center houses different types of books, including:

• picture and concept books (Y-E)
  

• board books
  

• big books for story times
  

• juvenile and young adult fiction and nonfiction (Y)
  

• reference books for teachers and adults (Y-R)
  

• reference books designed for young people (Y-R)
  

• and K-12 textbooks (IM)
  

• There is also a special shelf for new books

Use the Kent Library Catalog to find books in the IM Center. To limit a search to IM Center materials, start on the advanced keyword search screen. Use the drop-down menu next to "Location:" to select SEMO Instructional Materials. Type keywords into the search field and click the search button to display the results.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms much like Google.

Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located at the IM Center help desk. Important subject headings to remember when looking for juvenile and young adult books are "juvenile literature (nonfiction)," "juvenile poetry" and "juvenile fiction" here are some subject heading examples:

Cerebral palsy -- Juvenile fiction.

Singers -- Juvenile fiction.

Rabbits -- Juvenile poetry.

World War, 1939-1945 -- United States -- Juvenile literature.

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962 -- Juvenile literature.

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal System to decide which area will best match your topic. Check out Kent Library's quick Dewey Decimal guide here.

 The IM Center collects books that have won many of the American Library Association awards including: The Caldecott Medal, The Newbery Medal, The Coretta Scott King Award, The Michael L. Printz Award, and The Sibert Medal. For more information and a complete list of honor books and winners, simply click the link to visit the award's home page.

In addition to books and audiovisual materials the IM Center also houses Kits, Games and Teaching Aids.

Kits are groupings of materials published together on a particular topic. For instance a Book, cassette, and video packaged together to teach Spanish. Also included in this category are aptitude and diagnostic test kits. There are kits that deal with art, management, education, psychology, and other areas. For a list of Kits in the IM Center, click here.

Games are educational aids for use by children. For a list of games in the IM Center, click here.

Teaching Aids are used by a teacher and student and come in a variety of subjects and age levels. Math, reading, and science are some of the concepts covered. To see a list of Teaching Aids in the IM Center, click here.