Top 10 Library Survival Tips

10. UW Libraries: locations, hours and telephone numbers.
Additional information about individual campus libraries

9. Individual Assistance
In addition to help at the Reference Desk, you can arrange a one-on-one consultation with a librarian.
This can help you get started on a paper or large project or help you identify hard to find resources.

8A. Is the book you need not on the shelf?

Look around on the shelf -- is it out of order?
Look in sorting areas -- maybe it is waiting to be reshelved.
Are you in the correct library? -- verify the location and call number using the UW Libraries Catalog
Is it checked out? The UW Libraries Catalog will provide that information. If the book is checked out, place a hold on it.
No luck yet? Go to the Circulation Desk and ask for assistance

8B. Is the journal you need not on the shelf?

Journals are heavily used within the library -- maybe it is waiting to be reshelved. Library staff can point out the location of sorting areas.
Look near the photocopiers. It may be right where someone else left it not ten minutes ago.
Still not finding it? Ask for assistance at the Periodicals Desk

7. What if the UW Libraries doesn't have the journal with the perfect article for your project?
Request articles through Interlibrary Borrowing (ILB). The ILB staff will identify a library that does own the journal and request a photocopy of the article. The same service is available for books, dissertations, conference proceedings, etc.

6. Still need a book after your four week check out period?
You can renew books and review what you have checked out.

5. Reserve readings are available in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library
(unless your professor has made arrangments with another campus library).
You can search the UW Libraries Catalog for reserve material by course or instructor name.

4. Having difficulty using the online catalog?
Take a class! No sign-up is required and classes are only 50 minutes.
Workshops on using the Internet are also available.
If you need help with other kinds of software, UWired and C&C also offer classes.

3. Need a break?
Take home a feature film on video overnight from the Media Center
on the Mezzanine Level of the Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

Maybe your roommate needs a break and has told you to go take a hike?
Before you go, check out a USGS quadrangle map
from the Map Collection in the basement of Suzzallo Library.

All work and no play makes for a very dull UW graduate.

2. Ask for help to get started or at anytime during your research.
Reference desks are staffed in each library by people who want to help you!

1. Start early.

Finding information in a library as large as the UW Libraries often takes longer than you think it will.
And no matter how big the library collection, there will still be times when the Libraries won't have the book or article you need, or the book is checked out. Starting early may allow you the time to get those materials through Interlibrary Borrowing (see #7) or recall (#8A).

See you in the Libraries!

Compiled by Anne Zald, Geography/UWired Librarian
updated 9/15/98