Finding full copies of sources has become one of the biggest hurdles in conducting research, especially if you are looking for articles. With the internet, it's easy to find if a source exists, but often you can only access sources through a library. The systems involved are complicated and don't always communicate well with each other. Plus you often end up on publishers' websites, where they want you to pay for an article.
There are multiple ways to get to article and book citations, plus another hundred ways to access the hard copies, not to mention a million things that can trip researchers up along the way. Use the information on this page to track down full copies of materials. BUT please ask for help if you hit a roadblock - this is one of the most common issues in research today and the reference librarians are experts in helping you overcome these obstacles.
To request an article from a database, do a search within the database, identify the article you want, and - if it's not already full text in the database - click on the yellow FindIt! button.
The FindIt! button essentially does three things:
To request an item from Interlibrary Loan, all you'll need is your Gustavus user name and password. You'll be prompted to log on; follow the instructions to create an ILL request. Remember that ILL is free for you. It typically takes only a day or two for articles to be emailed from the lending library to you.
To find books at other libraries, search the Gustavus Library catalog. After you do a search, look at the options on the left hand side. Under Library, set the box to Libraries Worldwide. When you find a book that we don't have in our library, click the title. From there, look for the Request from another library button (under Access Options) & follow the prompts to request the book.
If anything goes wonky with this process, please ask. Ask a reference librarian, email me directly (ahulsebe@gustavus.edu) or come to the front desk of the library. There are enough odd hiccups in how the systems talk to each other that things sometimes go off track. We want to help you solve any issues you have accessing the hard copies of sources.
You can also find more details on the Interlibrary Loan page.
In many cases, before you can track down full copies of materials, you need to know what kind of source you have. Use this checklist if you are working off a bibliography or some other list of sources. Here are some of the most common citations, including identifying indicators (note that citations will look different in various citation styles):
For examples of how citations look in various citation styles, visit our Cite Your Sources guide. Once you've decoded your citation, use the boxes below to track down hard copies.
Here are some of the main ways to access journal articles, depending on your starting point.
If you have a journal citation, like from a bibliography:
If you are searching for articles through a database or want to browse articles in print:
There are many ways to find books, also depending on where you're starting.
If you have a book citation, like from a bibliography:
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