Internal Resources
University Libraries is committed to increasing student success through affordable learning. We strive to maximize the number of resources we provide to faculty and students. Obtaining textbooks and access to other information resources is critical to student success in the classroom.
The following list provides information about current library resources which faculty can use (free of charge!) to reduce or eliminate the cost of required course materials.
Subject Librarians
Faculty librarians work as subject-specific specialists who are available to assist you in a variety of ways. Our subject librarians can help you locate resources in our collection which can be used to make your course more affordable. UL provides access to hundreds of databases, thousands of journals, and millions of both print books and e-books. Faculty can utilize the expertise of subject librarians to identify and locate resources to be used in their courses. Subject librarians can also help you identify free open educational resources (such as open textbooks!) which can be adopted for use in your course. All of these options come at no charge to students!
Not sure who your faculty subject librarian is? Click here to find out!
Databases
Did you know that you and your students have access to around 400 databases through University Libraries? Click here for a full list of databases available via University Libraries. Content in databases can be utilized as either supplemental or primary course materials. A list of databases sorted by subject discipline can be found here.
E-Books
University Libraries provides access to over 1.3 million e-books to UA students and faculty. These e-books can be used to replace textbooks and/or supplements assigned reading in your courses. Our collection surely contains an e-book you could use in your course(s) with such a wide variety of titles available. The following are the primary e-book resources available via University Libraries.
- E-book Central – E-book Central contains over 150,000 e-books covering over 50 subjects in the arts and sciences. This collection includes textbooks.
- EBSCO E-Book Collection – The EBSCO E-Book Collection features over 19,000 e-books. The interface is the familiar EBSCO database which makes for ease of use. Every word of every book is keyword searchable.
- Knovel – This resources contain hundreds of engineering e-books and databases covering 18 important subject areas in engineering. This is an excellent resource to utilize for engineering and related disciplines.
- OhioLINK Electronic Book Center – This resource is the central location for e-books owned on the OhioLINK (state-wide consortia of academic libraries) level. Here you will find thousands of scholarly e-books.
- Safari Books Online – Safari contains over 35,000 e-books with a primary focus on technology, information technology, business, and digital media. This resource includes textbooks but does carry a maximum number of concurrent users of 100 for the entire state. Safari is sometimes inaccessible for this reason. Keep this in mind when assigning these materials!
- Springer Link – Springer Link is a resource that provides many different types of materials across all subject areas. After your initial keyword search, make sure to unclick preview mode and select book under content type. This will give you all of the e-books which we have access to at UA.
- University Libraries Catalog – The library catalog remains a reliable source for finding resources. This includes finding e-books! The link provided here will open up the advanced search page. You can limit your search to just e-books by clicking the “add limits” button and choosing “electronic book” under the “material type” box.
- Wiley Online Library – Wiley contains thousands of e-books covering over 100 subject areas. Users should perform a search and use the limiters on the right-hand side of the screen to limit to e-books. Look for the unlocked symbol to determine UA access.