Author

Guest Author

    To ILL or Not ILL?

    by Guest Author
    written by Guest Author

    We have a pretty extensive collection here at the University of Alberta Library. Between print books & periodicals, electronic books, journal articles, streaming video and audio, and miscellaneous kits, games and more, there’s no lack of resources to explore. As Junelle explained in her recent post, there are limits to what we have access to. Sometimes we have to cast our nets wider and borrow items from libraries outside of the NEOS consortium. We call these interlibrary loans (ILLs).

    ILLs are your best course of action when you’ve done a thorough search of the library’s resources and can’t find what you need. How do you know you’ve covered your bases? Here are a few tips to follow to ensure you’ve done your due diligence.

    The Library’s website, where you’ll find everything you need.

    Books

    Verifying whether we have a book in our collection is as simple as checking our catalogue. To do this, use either EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) — the main search field on our homepage– or through our public catalogue. If you’re a current student staff or faculty member you can use both.

    If you’re using EDS, you may need to use the drop down menus in the advanced search and the limiters on the left hand side to find what you’re looking for.

    Searching in EBSCO Discovery Service

    The public catalogue’s interface is a little less complicated. If you’re searching a book title make sure to adjust the drop down menu to title.

    The Public Catalogue and the all important drop down menu

    Submit an ILL request if you come up empty-handed after taking these steps. Please note, that ILL requests for books can take several weeks to fulfill. Need a single chapter from a book? You can request that one chapter as opposed to the whole book and our ILL team will try to find and send a scanned copy of it. If the book was published in the last few years, you could also recommend that we purchase a copy by filling out our Recommend a Purchase form [current UAlberta students and staff only].

    Articles

    Here’s where things get more complicated and I like to use a multi-step process.

    Search the title of the article in Google Scholar (the version available through the library’s website).

    More often than not, if we have access to the article a link to the FullText article will appear next to the article in the search results.

    An article with a FullText link in Google Scholar

    What if the article doesn’t come up, or there’s no link to the FullText article?

    First, confirm that we have access to the journal it was published in. Our eJournal search comes in handy here. Copy the journal’s title (the title of the journal not he article) and paste it into our eJournal search. If we have access to the journal, follow the links on the journal’s Get It @ UAlberta page to view our access options for the journal. Find the corresponding volume and issue the article was published in by clicking the corresponding link and searching through the journal’s issue archives.

    Online journal access options, found through the eJournal search

    Do we have a physical copy of the journal it was published in?

    Sometimes we only have articles available in a physical format. Search the journal title in EDS or the public catalogue to find out. Using the drop-down menus in both interfaces to specify periodical title simplifies things exponentially. There should be a catalogue listing for it if we do, and two options you can take.

    • Place a hold on the volume that contains the article and have it sent to the NEOS library of your choice.
    • OR, you can place an interlibrary loan request for the article and our ILL team will scan and send you a copy.

    Place an ILL request for the article, if these steps don’t result in your accessing the article.

    Theses and Dissertations

    First, check the databases listed on this subject guide. There are databases where you can look for UAlberta authored theses and databases for Canadian and internationally published ones.

    Feeling ambitious? Look to see if the institution the thesis was completed at has a digital repository. Many universities and institutions have open access digital repositories, like ERA, where theses and dissertations can be accessed.

    Can’t find the theses in these places? Place an ILL request for it.

    Determining if we have an item can be complicated. Reach out and Ask Us, is you’re ensure! We’ll do our best to confirm whether an ILL is the right course of action.

    Thanks for the read! Love us on the blog? Chances are, you’ll love us on social media! Follow us, @uofalibrary, on Instagram & Twitter!

    0 comment
    1 FacebookLinkedinRedditWhatsappEmail

  • Reconnaissance de la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    Ce post a été écrit en consultation avec la bibliothécaire Allison Sivak et traduit par Linda Gisenya. Le vendredi 30 septembre marque la Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation. À cette occasion, les cours seront annulés et les services du campus, y compris la bibliothèque, seront fermés pour permettre aux étudiants et au personnel de se pencher sur les conséquences des pensionnats canadiens. Pour soutenir cette réflexion, la bibliothèque…

  • Recognizing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    This post was a written in consultation with Librarian Allison Sivak. Friday, September 30 marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (TRC). On that day classes are cancelled and campus services, including the Library, will close to allow students and staff to contemplate the repercussions of the Canadian residential school system. To support this reflection the Library invites students and staff to take part in the following activities.   Orange Shirt Beaded Pin…

  • Web Archiving Government Information

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    This post was written by Katie Cuyler, Librarian (Arts & Law) & Government Information Librarian Today, governments share almost all of their public information on their websites. But, what happens when these websites change? When policies, mandates, or governments change? How can researchers access government information from previous governments? The answer is often through the Wayback Machine and Archive-it. Archive-it and the Wayback Machine are invaluable tools when it comes to accessing…

  • À l’attention des instructeurs : Pensez à des matériels de cours accessibles

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    Vous donnez un cours cet automne ? Pour planifier un cours efficace, il faut tenir compte du matériel de lecture que vos étudiants devront consulter pour réussir le cours. Seront-ils en mesure d’accéder à leur matériel de cours en cas d’imprévu ? Si la pandémie nous a appris quelque chose, c’est que les situations peuvent changer rapidement. Les étudiants peuvent perdre l’accès à des documents physiques qui se trouvent sur les étagères…

  • Attention Instructors: Consider Accessible Course Materials

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    Are you teaching a course this fall? A huge consideration that goes into planning an effective course is the required reading materials that your students will need to consume to be successful in your course. Are they going to be able to access their course materials should the unforeseen occur? If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that situations can change suddenly. Students could lose access to physical items that are located…

  • Digitizing SEE & VUE (part 1 of 3): How the scanning was completed!

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    This post was written by Sarah Severson, Digital Initiatives Project Librarian This is a 3-part series on the Digitization of SEE Magazine and VUE Weekly. This post is an overview of the project, which answers the question: “How?”  In the coming weeks, we’ll post a short history & timeline of the publications (the “What”), and close out with a collection of personal memories and discuss the research potential of collections like these…

  • Internet Archive your secret research (and boredom busting) weapon

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    Among many commemorative titles including Blueberry Month and International Zine Month, July is also anti-boredom month. When you work at a library there are endless amounts of resources to pour over when you need a brain break. Oftentimes during quiet periods at the desk, I like to poke around in the collections our digitization team have made available through Internet Archive. We’ve examined the process of digitization in a previous blog post,…

  • Finding a Good Way: Working Towards Decolonizing and Indigenizing the University of Alberta Library

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    This post was written by Debbie Feisst and Anne Carr-Wiggin, Co Leads, of University of Alberta Library’s Indigenous Initiatives Team As part of the University of Alberta Library’s Vision, we have committed to the priority of Decolonization and Indigenization. But what does this mean? We are working to dismantle barriers to our collections, spaces and services through collaboration and working with our community. Some other key components are considering our relationship with…

  • Asian Heritage Month | Buddhism’s Initial Diffusion Across Asia

    by Guest Author
    by Guest Author

    The Asian continent is an enormous landmass that is home to a rich array of cultural and religious traditions. As different groups migrated across it, they affected change on existing communities. Such trends can be seen throughout the history of humankind and the result has been a diffusion of ideas and traditions that take unique forms as they touch different regions. There are a number of philosophies and religions that form the…

Newer Posts
Older Posts