Library Handbook

Ask Us is a service where all students, faculty, staff, and alums can ask a question or submit a request and receive help from our team. Examples of questions we commonly receive include:

• Can you help me research articles and materials for my assignment?
• I'm new to the library and don't know where to start. Can you help?
• I'm seeking assistance with researching my literature review.
• I need this article. Could you please provide a copy of it?

Some additional ways we can help you through Ask Us include:

• Recommend the most appropriate databases or resources for your research.
• Provide search strategies to help you effectively use each database.
• Refine your search skills to spend less time conducting research.
• Find specific articles or books (i.e., you have the citation of an article, but you need the actual article and couldn't find it on Google).

• You can submit Ask Us questions or requests at any time or day.
• The service is staffed regularly throughout the day and evening, including weekends. Staff hours vary throughout the week.
• We typically respond to each question or request within a few hours, though some may take longer.

Ask Us

• Ask Us is available to all university students, faculty, staff, and alums.
• We are happy to assist non-university personnel or entities when possible.
• We treat all requests with respect and expect the same in return. Rude and offensive behavior will not be tolerated, including:
  • using offensive or obscene language or language of a racist/sexist nature;
  • transmitting messages that harass or threaten library staff;
  • threats related to loss of life or bodily harm; and
  • deliberately wasting librarian effort or time in a way that denies service to other students, faculty, staff, and alums.
• We are unable to provide help in the following areas:
  • legal, medical, financial, or tax advice;
  • proofreading or editing written work;
  • analyzing assignments and providing research topics;
  • choosing specific articles;
  • assisting with the content and direction of an assignment; and
  • creating bibliographies.

Document Requests

• Documents obtained through the library's Ask Us service are meant for your personal research needs and may not be photocopied, redistributed, or posted in online classrooms. If you wish to distribute a document to an entire class, you must first obtain permission from the copyright owner (usually the publisher).
• We are happy to provide non-university personnel or entities with copies of our students' dissertations; however, we can't fulfill requests for other materials from non-university personnel or entities.
• Depending on your course level, we may contact you with alternative options available in the library. Most requests are fulfilled as digital copies, and we can't mail copies of most materials.
• We reserve the right to cancel any request for materials not available in our collection that would incur a cost exceeding $50 to the library.
• Due to copyright restrictions, we cannot deliver entire e-books. We can, however, deliver up to two chapters or 10% of a single work (whichever is less). If more than two chapters or 10% of a single work is needed, we'll need to loan the book.
• Due to copyright restrictions, no more than two articles from a single issue of a periodical or journal can be delivered.
• The availability of the requested content in our partner libraries may limit the ability to fill a document request.
• If we're provided with an incomplete citation, we'll attempt to locate the document. However, if this isn't possible, we'll request additional information before canceling the request.
• If you request more than three documents at a time, we may contact you to gather additional information about your specific needs.

Alums

In addition to the general document request policies, there are also specific policies for alums.

• Alums are restricted to one document purchase per month. This restriction includes requests for materials from databases that are part of the library's collection but are not available to alums. We will, however, fulfill multiple requests with materials from our collection when possible.
• Alums can't borrow books through the service.

Books Loans

We offer book loans for students, faculty, and staff. Since book loans often take several weeks to fulfill, this service is primarily intended for doctoral students and faculty members doing scholarly research.

The following policies apply to book loans:

• Book loans are limited to current students, faculty, and staff. Alums can't loan books. Book loans generally take up to two weeks to fulfill, though some may take longer. We can't guarantee specific timelines.
• You're responsible for returning your borrowed book on time. The lending library will determine the due date. Please use the prepaid envelope to return the book.
• Students, faculty, and staff are allowed to borrow one book at a time. Loans for an additional book will not be processed until the lending library has received the return of the previous loan.
• We require the following information to process your book loan:
  • your physical address (no PO boxes);
  • your phone number for delivery, and
  • your advisor's name (if you are a student).
• We may opt to purchase a used copy of a book on your behalf, depending on the cost. The decision to purchase a book rests solely with the library and will be communicated to you as we process your request.
• You can't borrow physical copies of textbooks through the library. If you require a physical copy of a textbook, please get in touch with our Accessibility team.
• Our ability to fulfill book loans tends to be more limited than document requests, so we recommend checking with your local public library or suggesting that you purchase the text through an online retailer.
• Book loans aren't fulfilled for popular reading materials or materials unrelated to your academic research.
• Book loans aren't fulfilled for the materials listed on the College of Doctoral Studies Dissertation Guide Readings page.

We will do our best to fix your issue through our Ask Us service. However, we’re often limited in our ability to troubleshoot your issue and may ask you to contact technical support toll-free at 1-877-832-4867 for additional assistance. If you reside in a country other than the United States or Canada or cannot call a toll-free number, you can reach technical support at 1-602-387-2222. Please provide technical support with a telephone number so they may call you back to minimize phone charges.