Policies

1. CIRCULATION POLICY

Ø  The Circulation Desk forms part of the Circulation Services Section.

Ø  Books are issued and returned at this desk.

Ø  The Circulation desk is also a general service desk area that handles general enquiries.

LOAN PROCEDURE

Three types Loans  offered by our MMCHRI Central Library such as

                     1. Common Loan,

                     2. Short Loan, and

                     3. Overnight Loan

1. COMMON LOAN

Ø  EXCEPT Reference books, all books that have been borrowed from the bookshelves on production of the borrower card along with the ID card.

Ø  The rights of the cardholder cannot be transferred to another person.

Ø  Items that have been borrowed may be renewed twice. Renewals are allowed only if the item is not overdue or not in demand.

2. SHORT LOAN

Ø  The Short Loans Section consists mainly of prescribed texts, reference collections, and periodicals like journals and magazines.

Ø  Books and periodicals on the Short Loan period may be borrowed on production of an ID card where multiple copies are available.

Ø  Users are allowed to borrow books and journals and return them the same day.

 OVERNIGHT LOAN

• Only faculty members are allowed to borrow books and journals for overnight only, and the required books and periodicals will be issued after 4.00pm, and they have to return them the next day morning positively before 10.00am.

2. LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP POLICY

Ø  Student, Faculty, joint appointment faculty, and staff are entitled to library membership.

Ø  They are required to fill out a library membership form and submit it at the circulation desk in the library.

Ø  The library membership forms are available from the library circulation desk.

3. BORROWING POLICY

Ø  Library material must be checked out in person on production of Borrower’s Ticket/ID Card.

Ø  Borrowed library materials should be returned on the due date.

Ø  Five Books are issued to Faculty members for the period of One month.

Ø  Two Books are issued to undergraduate (UG) students for the period of 7 days.

Ø  Three Books are issued to postgraduate (PG) students for the period of 7 days.

Ø  If the students are secure at 80% and above in semester one, a merit book will be issued to encourage them.

Ø  New Books can only be issued after technical processing has been completed.

Ø  Reference books, rare books, unbounded periodicals, theses, periodicals, and audio-visual (AV) materials should not be checked out from the library.

Ø  Multi-volume book: each volume is treated as a separate item.

Ø  No faculty/student can take two books of the same title and author.

Ø  Anyone who violates the rules and regulations of the library would be liable to lose the privilege of library membership and may be debarred.

Ø  Visitors, interns, and alumni are not eligible to check out any library materials.

 4. RENEWAL POLICY        

1. Library materials must be renewed either by visiting the circulation desk, email or phone call on or before the item's due date to avoid fine charges, 

providing no other patron has requested the item(s).

2. Weekends are not included in the loan period.

3. Documents borrowed should be presented physically for renewal.

4. Documents will be renewed only if there are no reservations.

5. Renewal of borrowed books can be made only for ONE more week. If a borrowing request by another user is placed during the last seven days, 

the library will recall the item(s) to be returned immediately.

5. OVERDUE POLICY

1. Overdue notices will be sent automatically by the library management system

2. Final reminder will be sent by email to the concerned department for appropriate action.

3. Overdue Fines Ten (10) Rupees per day per item fine is charged for Students and Faculty members

4. Members should return all the library books and cards while taking a no-due certificate from the library.

5. If a member does not pay the library dues, the privilege of borrowing books may be suspended till he/she pays the requisite amount.

6. RESERVATION POLICY

1. Books can be reserved 24/7, and each registered user may reserve a maximum of two (02) library books that are currently checked out to the other users.

2. Once the item is available, the users will be intimated by email or over the phone or WhatsApp to get it easily.

7. LOSS & DAMAGE POLICY    

1. A patron with a lost/damaged book must immediately report about the book to the Librarian to stop the counting of fines.

2.  If library material is damaged beyond repair or is lost, the patron must replace it with the same item or the latest edition plus any overdue fines.

3.  If the lost item is out-of-print, it should be replaced by a similar title with eqan equalr higher price.

4.  The replacement of such an item must be approved by the Chief Librarian or Library Advisory Committee.

5.  If One book is lost in the volumes of the set, the reader has to replace the whole set.

6. The patron with the lost/damaged item should not be allowed to check out any library materials until the item has been replaced.

8. DIGITAL LIBRARY POLICY

1. Each User can use the Computer in Digital Library for a period of One Hour only.

2. The Users should make a compulsory entry in the log book before switching on the terminal except Library Hours.

3. The Users will not be allowed to use this facility during class hours except Library Hours.

4. The Users should not be allowed to use their own floppies/CDs/pen drives.

5. The students should shutdown the system properly, else inform to library staff.

6. The Users will be held responsible for any damage to the system or CDs being used by them.

7. Copying files from the CD's to the Hard-disk and deleting files in Hard-disks are strictly prohibited.

9. Inter Library Loan (ILL) Policy

1. 1. 1. Any MMCHRI Student, faculty member, or staff member can borrow books from libraries in other MAHER University Colleges when they are not available in his/her own Medical College Library.

      2.  On behalf of the borrower (requester), the concerned College Library will send an email to the library where the book is available.

      3.  The borrower is responsible for collecting and returning the book from the lending library.

      4.  In case of overdue charges, the borrower is responsible for any fine charges.

Moreover, the ILL Facility is also available through Institutional Membership such as

1. Developing Library Network (by MMCHRI)

2. British Council Library (by MMCHRI)

3. American Centre – US Embassy, Chennai (by MMCHRI)

4. The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University (by MAHER)

10. CLEARANCE POLICY

1. All students, faculty members, and staff must get their library clearance before their graduation or contract termination.

2. Clearance should not be served unless the borrowers have returned and cleared overdue materials and fines from their records.