What can you do about your library-related needs if you are not going to come to the Library?
Well, as many of our off-campus students already know, there's actually almost nothing you can do on campus that you can't do off campus, except browse our physical books. You might not be able to access our print collection if youare not on campus, but we have more online resources than print resources, so you should be able to do most (if not all) of your research without touching a single piece of paper.
Doing Research
You can use the Search Bar on our homepage to use One Search to look through our collection, and when you're in One Search, you can limit your results to Full Text Online, to search through our journals and eBooks. It's not just books and journals, either - we also have online video and audio recordings. If you need a refresher on how to use One Search (or our databases), check out the videos on our Searching the Literature Video Series.
If you need to undertake more advanced searches, you can use our Databases (which you can also search from the Search Bar on the homepage - just choose the Databases tab). We have databases for study areas, but also databases that specialise in certain types of media (like streaming video) or tools. If you aren't sure which databases are right for you, you can search the databases by subject, or you can consult the Library Guide for your subject for advice.
All sorts of information and advice can be found on your Library Guide. You may have a Guide for your particular subject, or one for your subject area. We also have How To Guides, which give you advice on all sorts of things from Annotated Bibliographies to Thesis Formatting, and let's not forget the Referencing Guides and the Writing Guide (which will get you over the hump for any assignment that may be daunting you).
And, yes, you can also search for our Guides from the Search Bar on our homepage. Just choose the Guides tab.
Renewing Loans
Do you need to renew a book, or check when your books are due? You can do that from the Borrow and Renew page, or just click on the Catalogue tab on the Search Bar on our hompage and click on the link to My Library Account.
We may arrange an extended due date for you even if you can't renew the book because it is on hold.
Keeping up with the News
You can browse through our online journals using Browzine, and we have access to many Australian newspapers (including the national papers and the Townsville and Cairns local papers) through our databases.
You can also access News Corp papers through JCU's subscription, but please note, this isn't a library resource and we can't help if something isn't working properly.
Asking for Help
If you need to ask for help or chat with a Librarian, you can use our Chat service. There's a link to the Chat service from inside One Search and all of our Guides, so we're right where you'll need us. You can also find the link to the Chat service on the Connect With Us page. If we're offline, you'll be able to leave a question with us, and you can also search through our FAQs - but if the university is running remotely, you'll probably be able to chat with us even if the campus is closed.
If you need to make an appointment with a Liaison Librarian, you can arrange for a Zoom meeting. Use the "Meet with..." button on your librarian's contact page (or find the "make an appointment with..." link on your Library Guide) to book a time to talk to your librarian, then send them an email to say you'll need to meet online. If you've never used Zoom before, we can talk you through it.
Don't Panic
We often provide some words of encouragement to help students who are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the university process (that's not actually one of our services; we're just nice people), so here are some for you right now:
Remember, everyone will be in the same boat, so don't worry about being left behind if you are not attending face-to-face classed or need to work from home. Every department in the university is busy making plans for dealing with these possibilities - just keep an eye on the announcements and your email.
Comments