General Info

Authorized Users:  All JFSC faculty, staff, and students are authorized users, as are all active duty U.S. military personnel with permanent local addresses.

Library Visitor Access Policy: (ID Required)  You are also eligible to use the JFSC Ike Skelton Library if you are:

• Active duty or retired military
• A reservist on active duty
• A DOD civilian
• An adult dependent of JFSC students and faculty
• A visitor who has obtained approval from the Chief, Library Division. This category can include scholars, Federal employees from non-DOD agencies, foreign visitors, etc. NOTE: There is a restriction on this category when the visitor is also a contractor. Current government ethics regulations restrict contractor access.
• Visitors who need access to the Library's Federal Depository Collection
• International Military Personnel stationed at Allied Command Transformation
• Faculty and graduate students of Virginia Tidewater Consortium Schools

Visitors to the JFSC Ike Skelton Library have limited access. This is defined as self-directed onsite usage; it does not include cost-incurring research services, document delivery, FAX, or other similar privileges and services granted to primary mission users.

Books:  Books in the circulating collection may be borrowed for two weeks and may be renewed for additional two-week periods unless requested by JFSC students, staff, or faculty. Reference books do not circulate.

Periodicals:  These materials do not normally circulate. Exceptions may be made to allow for overnight use by JFSC students, staff, or faculty.

Course reserves:  These materials have restricted checkout periods.

Books:  The collection is made up of approximately 115,000 books. The book collection is on the first floor.

Periodicals:  Over 450 journal and newspaper titles are available. Articles within periodicals are found by using specialized online and printed indexes such as the Staff College Automated Military Periodicals Index or other electronic reference sources. Reference staff members will assist patrons in finding specific titles or articles on particular topics. Current periodicals are located on the second floor, west side, in alphabetical order by title. Back issues are located on the second floor, north side, in alphabetical order by title. The library publication Periodicals & Recurring Documents lists titles maintained at the JFSC library and gives frequency of publication, holdings, and call numbers, if applicable. Microfilm copies of selected titles are shelved in cabinets on the first floor, and microfiche copies of periodicals are shelved in cabinets on the second floor.

Staff College Automated Military Periodicals Index (SCAMPI): Library staff members regularly scan the weekly news magazines, monthly and bimonthly journals such as Military Review, Armed Forces Journal, and quarterly publications, including NATO's Nations and Partners for Peace, RUSI Journal, and the Naval War College Review. Miscellaneous reports from RAND and the General Accounting Office are also indexed for SCAMPI. The resulting database serves as a current and retrospective guide to articles on military and naval art and science, operational warfare, joint planning, national and international politics, and other areas researched by JFSC faculty, staff, and students. The SCAMPI database covers the period from 1996 thru the present.

Electronic Reference Sources:  Subscription databases are available through the Library E-Resource icon on the workstations in the library. They include Armed Conflict Database, Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO), CountryWatch, CultureGrams, Digital National Security Archives, EBSCOhost, Economist Intelligence Unit, First Search, Gallery Watch, InfoTrac, Inside Defense, Jane's Online, Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, JSTOR, Lexis-Nexis, Periscope, Policy File, ProQuest Direct and Stratfor.

The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) index to unclassified and unlimited technical reports is available through STINET . Internet access is available on all workstations in the library. Use of some electronic resources is authorized for JFSC students, staff, and faculty only. For more information, please check with a reference librarian.

Doctrine:  Selected Service regulations and other administrative and doctrinal publications are located in the last section after the periodical shelves on the north wall. Approved joint publications are shelved with other Service doctrine.

The Joint Doctrine, Education and Training Electronic Information System (JDEIS) is the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff portal for joint doctrine, education and training and can be searched at the following Internet address: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/s_index.html.

The Joint Electronic Library (JEL) may also be searched for joint and service publications at: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/nipr_index.html.

Links for the joint sites and additional Service-related doctrine can be found in the Doctrine Online folder within the Library E-Resources.

Government Documents:  The library receives selected documents from the Federal Depository Library Program. Electronic access to current Congressional publications is available at GPO.

Other Resources:  

• Audio books on a variety of subjects, including military history, foreign languages, best-selling fiction and self-improvement, are available for checkout and are found on the first floor on special display shelving.
• A popular reading collection is located nearby on the first floor.
• Videos related to the curriculum are available to JFSC students, staff, faculty, and other authorized borrowers. VHS videos are shelved in cabinets on the second (main) floor, and DVDs may be requested at the information desk.
• Newspapers are retained for varying periods of time, as shown in Periodicals & Recurring Documents. Current issues are on display in the west lounge area of the second floor. Past issues are shelved on the second floor, north side. Back files of selected newspapers are also maintained in the library.
• RAND documents are shelved in the Q180.A1R36 section on the first floor. Uncataloged RAND papers and notes as well as microfiche copies of DTIC and other government documents are available on request at the information desk.
• Bibliographies on many subjects related to the JFSC curriculum are available at the following Internet address: http://www.jfsc.ndu.edu/library/publications/bibliography/default.asp.
• The JFSC Archives, Special Collections, and a conference room are located on the first floor of the library.

Services

Research and Reference:  A reference librarian is on duty during normal hours of operation to help patrons locate material to support research or information needs.

Holds:  JFSC students, staff, and faculty can place a "hold" on any circulating or on-order library book. Students are notified of availability of "holds" through their mailboxes or via e-mail; faculty and staff are notified by phone or via e-mail.

Interlibrary Loans:  Interlibrary loan service is available only to JFSC students, staff, and faculty in support of mission requirements. Materials may be requested on interlibrary loan from other area, regional, or national libraries. Information desk personnel will assist JFSC personnel with interlibrary loan requests.

Computers:  Computers are available on both floors of the Library offering access to Internet sites, e-mail, reference resources, and applications software.

Microform Equipment:  Microform reader printers are located on both floors of the library and convert film or fiche to hard copy format. Authorized users may check out portable microfiche readers from the information desk for short periods of time.

Photocopiers:  The library's official-use photocopiers are located in the main reading room. These are available to support JFSC mission requirements only.

Scanners:  Two scanners are available for official use. One is located at the cluster of public access computers closest to the Information Desk on the main floor of the library, and the other is located at the circular counter on the first floor.

Peripheral Equipment: All computer workstations are equipped with a combined DVD/CD-Rom player. In addition, this equipment can be used as a CD burner. Headphones are available at the information desk during normal work hours. Interchangeable drives for 3-inch disks are available at the information desk. Dial-up access to the Internet is available on the first floor behind the desk at the bottom of the stairs. Network connections for JFSC-issued laptops are available on the first and second floor.

Federal Depository Library Program:  The Joint Forces Staff College Ike Skelton Library is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The library was designated a depository library in 1963 under Title 44 U.S.C. sec. 1907. As a depository library, the JFSC library provides residents of the 2nd Congressional District with free government information received through the FDLP. Other depository libraries in the local area include Chesapeake Public Library, Hampton University Library, Norfolk Public Library, Old Dominion University Library and the Swem Library at the College of William and Mary.

Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK):  The Joint Forces Staff College Ike Skelton Library has been a member of FEDLINK since 1982, and receives library contractual services such as OCLC, electronic resources, periodical and book ordering services, and training.

About FEDLINK: http://lcweb.loc.gov/flicc/abotfedl.html

Military Education Coordination Council (MECC) Library Working Group:  The Military Education Coordination Council (MECC) Library Working Group consists of libraries from the military education system of the Department of Defense. The system is maintained through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and consists of schools, colleges and other educational institutions. The MECC Library Working Group was formed in 1995 by nine of the military education system libraries. In April, 1997, the library working group agreed to develop a Website for their online catalogs, thus forming the consortium called Military Education Research Library Network (MERLN). MERLN originally consisted of the Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia; Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama; Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island; Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas; National Defense University, Washington, D.C.; Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California; Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia; and Joint Special Operations Forces Institute (formerly at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.)

In 1998, the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland; U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut joined MERLN. The MERLN server is located at the National Defense University, Washington, D.C. Today MERLN includes the online catalogs of these and many more libraries, digital collections, white papers, Military Policy Awareness Links (MiPALs), and professional publications of various defense schools and centers.

OCLC, Online Computer Library Center:  OCLC is the bibliographic utility that the Joint Forces Staff College Ike Skelton Library uses for shared cataloging, interlibrary loan and reference purposes. The Staff College Library has been an OCLC member since 1984. Libraries from around the world contribute records to this database containing over 60 million bibliograpic records so all the members can share them.

OCLC Home: http://www.oclc.org/home/

Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education:  The Joint Forces Staff College Ike Skelton Library is a member of the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education. The consortium provides for reciprocal direct borrowing to students, faculty and staff of member institutions.

JFSC patrons are allowed to borrow from consortium libraries. Students and faculty of member libraries borrow from JFSC indirectly, using their own interlibrary loan office.

The Joint Forces Staff College also participates in educational programs offered by the consortium.

VTCHE Home: http://www.vtc.odu.edu/index.html

Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) Program: The Joint Forces Staff College Ike Skelton Library is a member of the Name Authority Cooperative (NACO) Program. The purpose of the NACO Program is to allow libraries to create and modify name authority records in the Library of Congress' National Authority File. The Staff College has been a NACO member since 1997. JFSC also participates in the other components of the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) such as the Bibliographic Cooperative Program (BIBCO) and the Subject Authority Cooperative (SACO) Program.

As a method of increasing participation in the NACO Program, the JFSC library initiated the Virginia NACO Project. This project currently includes 12 academic libraries and two public libraries. These libraries house various special collections, on subjects ranging from oceanography, marine science, African-American studies, and local area history, to sacred scripture and military studies.

This project is open to other Virginia libraries. If interested, please contact the Project Coordinator, at 757-443-6405.

Click here for a current directory of Virginia NACO Project Members.

NACO Home: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/naco/naco.html