SEARCHING FOR MATERIALS

Important Links

Off-Campus Access to Databases

PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and other databases can be searched from off-campus. When connecting from off-campus, you will be prompted for your GroupWise username and password. (For problems with your GroupWise account, contact the ITS User Support Center: 413-585-4487 or 4its@email.smith.edu).

ACQUIRING MATERIALS (non-local placements)

Books

First, please try libraries near your placement to get needed books and articles. If you cannot find the materials you need, please follow these procedures:

• If Smith owns the book, we will mail it to you and pay for the shipping. Send requests to Pamela Skinner, pskinner@email.smith.edu. Please do not use Request Item in the online catalog! For Smith books, Request Item will result in the book(s) sitting on the hold shelf, rather than being mailed to you. Non-Smith books will be returned to the home library, since we cannot mail non-Smith books to you.
• If Smith does not own the book, we will buy it for the library collection and then mail it to you, if it is still available for sale. Send requests to Pamela Skinner, pskinner@email.smith.edu.
• If Smith does not own the book—and it is no longer available for sale—look for a copy in a library near your placement site or request it via interlibrary loan at your local public library.

Theses and Dissertations

• We will mail Smith theses and dissertations to you, again at no charge. Send requests to Pamela Skinner, pskinner@email.smith.edu. For help identifying SSW theses by subject, see How to Find Theses at Smith.
• For non-Smith theses and dissertations, try the interlibrary loan service at your local public library.
• Dissertations are also available for sale from UMI’s Dissertation Express for $41 each: (The library will not buy dissertations.)

Books and theses are due June 2, 2008—but are subject to recall at any time. If you receive a recall notice, mail the item(s) back to Smith immediately or contact Pamela Skinner for advice. Do not ignore recall notices! Failure to return materials promptly will result in fines and possible suspension of library privileges.

Please do not request Five College books online using “Request item.” unless you are willing to drive to Northampton to pick them up and return them. We cannot mail them to you.

Journal Articles

• Use the SC Links button within databases—or Smith’s Journal Locator—to see if the article is available online from Smith.
• If the journal is not available online, check for print holdings at Smith via the SC Links button or the Journal Locator. If we have what you need in print, send an e-mail to Pamela Skinner, pskinner@email.smith.edu, and we will supply the article(s) from our collection.
• If the journal isn’t available online or in print from Smith, you may request it via Interlibrary Loan, again via the SC Links button or the Journal Locator.
• Note that if you submit a large number of ILL requests, we may ask you to use a library near your placement site for some/all of the articles.

USING INTERLIBRARY LOAN

If you live in the Smith area, you may use Interlibrary Loan by submitting requests and picking up material here just as you did during the summer. If you are out of town, you may request articles and book chapters only if they are not available online or in a library near your placement site. Remember that we cannot mail books that belong to other libraries to you.

SMITH CONTACT INFORMATION

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