Curriculum Collection
Types of Materials |
< Curriculum Collection Policy
The Curriculum Collection, located on the Main Level of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library, contains a selection of K-12 instructional materials. This collection is an essential resource for those studying and working in education. Materials are available in a variety of formats, including books, multimedia, computer software, periodicals and educational kits. Our collection is constantly updated and includes award-winning titles including Caldecott, Newbury, Coretta Scott King, and Nutmeg books.
All materials located in the Curriculum Collection may be searched or browsed via the Library Catalog.
In addition to Fairfield University's Curriculum Collection, educators may be interested in visiting Connecticut's State Education Resource Center (SERC) Library, which is open to the public and provides access to comprehensive, diversified, and up-to-date collections of educational resources.
Books and Educational Kits: The Library collects books and hands-on educational resources, or "kits," which can be found in the Curriculum Collection Room or behind the Circulation desk. To find kits using the Library Catalog, use the Power Search, and specify "kit" under the type drop-down box. Books and kits in the collection have been divided into five categories:
- Curric. Ref. (Reference Materials) For reference only. Cannot be checked out.
- Curric. Secondary Education resources for grades 6-12.
- Curric. ELEM ED (Elementary Education): Education resources for grades K-5.
- Curric. ESL/BB (Mulicultural Education/ESL): Resources for teaching ESL and/or in a multi-cultural environmet.
- Curric. SPEC ED (Special Education): Resources for gifted students or students with special needs.
See "Finding Materials," below, for information on locating each type of book or kit on the shelf.
Periodicals: Due to space limitations, educational periodicals are not shelved in the Curriculum Collection Room, but are located on the Library's Lower Level on the serials shelves, in the microforms room, or in the newspaper room. Additionally, many educational periodicals are available online, through the library's numerous database subscriptions. Signage in the Curriculum Collection guides visitors to these resources. To locate specific periodicals in the DiMenna-Nyselius Library, search by title in the Journal Locator.
Below is a selection of periodicals for children and young adults available through the Library*:
Boys' Life online Journal of Youth & Adolescence online Children's Digest online Calliope online National Geographic hard copy and online Highlights for Children online Child Life online Odyssey online Horn Book Guide online Children's Playmate online Ranger Rick online Hot Rod online Cobblestone online Skipping Stones online Jack and Jill online Faces online Sports Illustrated for Kids online Junior Scholastic online Girls' Life online U.S. Kids online Plays online Hopscotch online Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books online Stone Soup online Horn Book Magazine hard copy and online Canada and the World Backgrounder online Time for Kids online Humpty Dumpty's Magazine online Child Development hard copy and online * A vast number of periodicals published on the topics of education, psychology, and teaching are also available in hard copy and online through the library's numerous database subscriptions.
Below is a selection of online indexes & databases for use by students in the K-12 curriculum:
- Kids Info Bits Free for everyone in CT!
- InfoTrac Junior Edition Free for everyone in CT!
- InfoTrac Student Edition Free for everyone in CT!
- Science Resource Center Free for everyone in CT!
- iConn Additional Resources - Children Free for everyone in CT
CD-Roms/Interactive Multimedia: Due to space limitations in the Curriculum Collection Room, computer software, CD-ROMs and other educational mulitmedia can be found behind the Circulation Desk. To find these using the Library Catalog, enter the phrase "interactive multimedia" as a keyword search.
Videos and Music: Due to space limitations in the Curriculum Collection Room, educational video recordings (DVDs or VHS tapes) and music CDs are shelved in the Library's Media Department on the Lower Level. For tips on locating these materials using the library catalog, refer to the Locating Media Guide 
or view this quick video on Finding Videos/DVDs Using the Library Catalog 
.
Also, check out this fabulous new free online source for multimedia: Teacher's Domain (WGBH). This site includes more than 1,000 free media resources for the classroom from the best in public television. Register for free, then download, share, or remix according to the rights indicated.
The Curriculum Collection contains a variety of materials in a rather small space. To help you navigate the collection, we have provided signage in the room as well as a color-coded shelving system.
Color-Coded Shelving System: Look for these colors on shelf markers and item call numbers.
- Material type "Reference Book": no color
- Items geared to Secondary Education (marked as Curric.) : no color
- ELEM ED (Elementary Education): blue
- ESL/BB (English as a Second Language/Multicultural Education): green
- SPEC ED (Special Education): yellow
Examples:
- An item listed in the Library Catalog by this call number, PE1628.5 .A444 2003, with material type "Reference book," would not be marked with colored tape, but instead would have a spine label marked Curric. Ref., followed by the call number.
- An item listed in the Library Catalog by this call number, GB1002.25 .W28 2004, would not be marked with colored tape, but instead would have a spine label marked Curric. only, followed by the call number.
- An item listed in the Library Catalog by this call number, HV1598 .A38 2002 ELEM ED, would be marked with clear blue tape.
- An item listed in the Library Catalog by this call number, PZ7 .O785 CU 2005 ESL/BB, would be marked with clear green tape.
- An item listed in the Library Catalog by this call number, LC3969.T42 SPEC ED, would be marked with clear yellow tape.
For information on borrowing materials, see Circulation Policies and Media/Reserves Borrowing Privileges and Loan Periods.