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Extended campus services

Reference assistance | Obtaining library materials | Checking library account | Databases and ejournals

Reference assistance 

Simple questions: Go to Ask a librarian chat and email service.

Subject specific questions: Contact your college librarian. A librarian is formally assigned to assist the faculty, staff, and students of every academic department. Consult the list of Subjects for names, phone numbers, and email addresses.

AREC and Extension offices should contact the Agriculture Librarian (Margaret Merrill).

Everything else: If unsure where to start or who to contact about any library service, please direct your questions to the distance education librarian.

Obtaining library materials 

ILLiad: Extended campus users request delivery of materials *owned by* the Virginia Tech Libraries through the ILLiad service. ILLiad is an acronym for InterLibrary Loan internet accessible database.

ILLiad is also the means through which materials *not owned by* the Virginia Tech Libraries are obtained. ILLiad thus serves as the single request system through which extended-campus users can obtain all library materials regardless of ownership. On-campus students also use ILLiad, but only to obtain items not owned locally.

You must register with ILLiad before your first use of the system. There is no charge.

The ILLiad service defines extended-campus users geographically. If your mailing address is outside the New River Valley counties of Montgomery, Giles, and Pulaski, then you are an extended-campus customer.

If you log in to My Library Account before you begin search Addison, you will find links to request books through ILLiad for books that can be checked out. Using the request link in the External Links box will bring you to the ILLiad login screen. After logging in, you will be presented with a filled-out book request form. You no longer need to manually fill in the form. Books with an Available status will be picked up and mailed quickly. Books that are currently checked out will be recalled by ILL and mailed upon their return.

Returnables (books and other materials that are loaned to you - i.e., not photocopies) are sent with prepaid return mailing labels included in the packaging. You are responsible to return materials on time.

Faculty holding an OCLC reciprocal borrower's card can check out library materials from participating institutions. Northern Virginia libraries include: American, George Mason, Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, and the University of Maryland. Tidewater libraries include Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth.

Get VText: Most of the Library's databases have links from retrieved citations to the online catalog (Addison), to the Ejournals database, and to ILLiad. These links are generally indicated by the presence of a Get VText link or button.

Clicking on this link results in a search of the Ejournals database (Step 1). When there are no matches to electronic content you can click on the Addison link to see whether the Library owns in print (Step 2). If print not available, click on the Link to InterLibrary Loan Request, login using your ILLiad username and password, and the bibliographic elements of the record you were displaying (e.g., author, title, journal, issue, volume, pages, etc.) will appear in an ILLiad request form (Step 3). Check the form for accuracy and add any missing information and then submit. Extended-campus users can skip the Addison step.

Checking your library activity 

The Review Requests section of your ILLiad account will allow you to see 'Active Requests,' 'Checked Out Items,' and 'Request History.'

Choose 'Request History' to see a log of all previous requests. Choose 'Active' Requests' to view and edit your outstanding requests, including detailed request information and statuses. Choose 'Checked Out Items' to view or renew items that you have checked out that have been borrowed from another library.

If you have requested books that are owned by the Virginia Tech Libraries, once the books are mailed to you, the status on ILLiad changes from 'active' to 'completed' and the ILLiad tracking is done. Thereafter, to see which Virginia Tech books are still currently checked out, login to My Library Account within Addison (enter your name and student ID number). Note that books borrowed from other libraries will not appear on your Addison account in My Library Account, only books that belong to Virginia Tech.

Books borrowed from other libraries have a different identification label affixed to the front than books borrowed from the Virginia Tech Libraries. Books from other libraries are indicated as Virginia Tech Interlibrary Loan while books from Virginia Tech are indicated as ILL from Virginia Tech Collection (Extended Campus). Books borrowed from other libraries are generally not renewable, so there is a due date clearly indicated on the label. Books from the Virginia Tech collection are renewable.

Databases and ejournals 

Of particular interest to extended-campus users may be the Library's full-text electronic resources. In order to access them, you must be authenticated as being affiliated with Virginia Tech. See connecting from off-campus section for detailed instructions.

Some of the links on the University Libraries databases page are accessible from any of the participating VIVA institutions. Most of these institutions allow walk-in business.