“What” Ready Reference Question Tutorial

By: Emily Parker

Introduction: Why a College Handbook?• A tutorial on how to use a college handbook is very

important in a public library. • The idea of looking for colleges is very overwhelming and

having a step by step guide is very useful in helping the patron know what colleges are out there and what they have to offer.

• The college hand book chosen is, “Profiles of American colleges: 2015” and answers the question, “What college do I attend?”

• The intended audience is anyone looking to go to a college in America.

• This resource can be found in the LaGrange Public Library. It is located both behind the reference counter and available to check out.

Organization• It is no doubt that the book, Profiles of American Colleges

2015, is a huge book. However, the layout is fairly simple and straight forward. It is helpful to know the layout of the book before learning how to navigate through it.

• How it is organized– First there is the table of contents, a key to abbreviations, a

preface, and an explanation of the book.• After the general information about the book there is something

that makes this book unique from other books. • That is a section dedicated to the college process.: this includes

how to know yourself and what you want to study, finding the right college, how to score high on entrance exams (ACT and SAT), how to get into college (application), finding the money for college, and lastly how to survive freshman year. (pages 1-19)

Colleges at a Glance• After all the helpful information about the college process

there is a table.• This table is titled, “Colleges at a Glance.” The table is

organized as such.– In the first column each school is listed alphabetically under the

state they are located in which is also in alphabetical order. Next to the school is the town that the school is located in.

– The next six columns specifies environment (urban, rural, suburban, small town), degrees awarded (associates, bachelors, masters, doctorate), control (private school or public school), fraternities and sororities (has fraternities, sororities, both, or neither), students (coed, men, women, primarily men, primarily women), and enrollment in 2013.

– The next four columns specify the requirement for the ACT, SAT critical reading, SAT mathematics, and SAT writing.

– The last column tells the application deadline. (page 24-52)

Cost Ranges List

The last table is “In-State Cost Ranges Directory”Here colleges are categorized by cost that ranges

from less than $2,000 to $30,000 and over.

This is very helpful if you want to search colleges that fit your price range.

Pages 53-57

College Majors and Where to go for them• The next two sections focus on area of study.• On page 61-80, there is the section of Deciding

on a college major and career.• It tells of all the possible majors and careers one

could go into with a description of each that includes what it is and what skills you will learn.

• From page 81-257 there is the “Index of College Majors.”-This lists all the college in this particular book under the major that was described in the previous section.

Finally there is the Profiles of American Colleges, which makes up of most of the book.

Before we dive into how to look up various colleges using charts and the index, an explanation of what information is included for each college is needed.

• The information listed for each college is straight forward information that would assist a student in finding a college for them. – The details section includes what type of school it is, how many years,

full time, part time, graduate studies, application information, faculty information, tuition, room and board, freshman class, and SAT and ACT information.

– There is also general information about the history of the school, student life, housing, activities, sports, disabled student, services, safety, programs of study, what is required, special programs, faculty/classrooms.

– The admissions section includes requirements, procedures, transfer, visiting information, financial aid, international students, computers, graduates, and admission contact.

– Pages 273-276.– Now that we know the organization of the book now lets take a look on

how to look colleges up using both the tables in the beginning of the book and the index in the back.

For the tutorial I will explain how to navigate the handbook by using the index and tables.

The good thing about this handbook is that if you don’t know what college you are interested in, there is enough of information to help you figure out what area of study you want to go into. Then you can look up what college corresponds with the area you are interested in.

If you know a school…• The first example I am going to look up Dominican

University. • First go to the index that is in alphabetical order.

Dominican University is listed on page 546.• Next go to page 546 and there you go!

• *If you do not want to use the index but are aware that Dominican University is in Illinois, you can page through to find the Illinois section and you can find Dominican University a few pages after. Everything is alphabetical.

• The only problem with this method is that there is a lot of paging through the book and a lot of guessing. Using the index, if you know the school’s name, makes it a lot easier to find what you are looking for.

If you are wondering which school has what….• If you know what major you want to go into but don’t know

what school offers it you can go to “Index of College Majors,” which starts on page 81, in the beginning of the book that was described earlier in this presentation.

• Example:• I am interested in what college has art history. On page 94 I found art

history section. There are many colleges to choose from but I am interested in the colleges that are in Illinois. Next to the school listed is the state it is in along with the cost of the school. – Once you find one that looks suitable to you, you can then go to the

index in the back of the book to find the page that the school is listed on.

– Or you can go back to the Illinois section and browse for the school you found. It is listed alphabetically so you should be able to find it fairly easily.

What school is in which price range… Go back to the “Cost Range List” of each

college. First look at the selection of schools that is in

your price range.Then look the school in the index to find the

page number the school is listed on.When you find the page the school is on, you can

see in more detail in the actual profile to determine if it is a fit for you.

What College based on ACT and SAT scores• Go to the “Colleges at a Glance” table that starts on page

24. • There are two ways to look at this.

– Fist there is a school that you know you want to go to but are wondering what ACT or SAT score you need.• For this you find your school which is listed under the state it is

in. Then you follow across the chart until you reach the specific column you need. Then you can see what score you need to get in by comparison to the median score of students. (the later columns tell how many people have been accepted with a certain score).

– Second you don’t know a school but you have a ACT or/and a SAT score. • It would be useful to look at the “median” column of the ACT

and the SAT scores. It is the general score of people who have been accepted.

Follow up/closing• Choosing a school can be difficult and stressful

but using this guide will help you have a restful night.

• Though this book is very useful, my only disclaimer is that this is one of many college hand books. I would recommend, if you find a college of great interest, that you consult other books to see other information or you can contact the school and go from there.

• If you have any questions or concerns you may contact me at parkemil@my.dom.edu. -Thank you.

Reference List

The College Division of Barron’s Educational Series. (Eds). (2014). Profiles of American Colleges: 2015. (31st edition). Hauppauge, NY. Barron’s.