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Locating Books Outside UVF: In Your Community

Use this guide to find books in electronic format on the web.

Local & International Access

UVF offers a wide range of print and electronic resources; however it simply isn't possible to provide access to everything. Some items are not available in online formats. Our students live internationally, so it is difficult for us to provide access to print resources to everyone. 

Often, depending on where you live, local, public libraries or academic libraries can help you. Visit your local libraries, learn their borrowing rules, what their electronic resources are, and how you can access their collection. They can often use ILL to get print books for you. The more access points you have for research, the better your resarch will be.

 

Public libraries

If you have a library card to your local public library, you should be able to borrow and/or view the available books and journals. In addition, your local library may:

  • be part of a larger consortium (county-, state- or province-wide), giving you access to a wider range of materials
  • have interlibrary loan, so you can order books and items from other libraries

Academic libraries

Many college and university libraries allow outside community members to view their collections (especially if they're publicly funded). Though you probably won't be able to borrow books without arranging special privileges, often you can:

  • view books and journals on-site
  • make photocopies of articles or book chapters
  • potentially get a guest login to use their research databases from within the library, then save or print articles

 

Borrowing privileges vary widely. Check out the websites for the libraries in your area to find their borrowing policies, or contact the libraries directly.

WorldCat is a combined catalog of libraries all over the world. You can search for a variety of items then enter your location to see if local libraries have what you want.

Books

Let's say we are interested in locating the book, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, by John Dewey. 

  1. Select the Books tab above the search box and enter the book title. 


     
  2. Click search and look for the correct result.  

    Tip: you may see several similar results, but you will want to select the result with the most current copyright.


     
  3. Click on the title of the book you want; on the following screen, use the Enter your location box located under Find a copy in the library to see a list of libraries that have the book you need.

    Tip: Using your zip code for your location works great.

Articles

Finding a journal article follows the same basic steps

  1. Select the Articles tab above the search box.
  2. Enter the title of the article in the search box.
  3. Under the search box, enter the title of the journal in the Limit to journal/magazine box.