Library Resources & Services for Faculty
The relationship of the library to the teaching faculty is guided by the philosophy of academic partnership and shared responsibilities. What follows is a description of some of the programs and services that the library offers to WSU Vancouver faculty. As the library grows and changes, library programs also grow and change and sincere efforts are made to advise the WSU Vancouver community of changes. Please consult the Library homepage for more information and access to our services.
Cooperative Collection Building
While the acquisitions budget is not formulated by program sub-budget, every effort is made to build a collection that equitably supports the varying needs of the students, faculty, and staff. It is very useful and strongly encouraged that faculty articulate their collection needs to the librarians. While it is not always possible to purchase everything that is requested, any and all requests are given serious consideration.
Griffin and Library Databases
The Library Catalog for WSU is called Griffin and, through it, you can see what materials are owned by all of the WSU Libraries.
In addition, WSU Vancouver provides access electronically to over 75 indexes and databases. Most indexes are accessible from your office computer through the library's website and many are accessible from home. The Alphabetical Databases page has a list of databases available.
For indexes not available through any previously mentioned service, librarians can access hundreds of other computerized indexes as well as tracking down access to those indexes which are not available electronically. Please make an appointment with a librarian if you need any research-oriented library services.
Current Awareness Services
Some of the electronic databases available to you provide current awareness services. These services come in all varieties but basically they allow you to obtain regular updates on searches that you run in the databases. The Current Awareness Services page includes a list of databases providing these services.
Using Other Libraries
When the WSU Vancouver Library does not have an item that you need, the WSU library system (Griffin), to which you have virtually complete access, should be your next library of choice for your information needs. It is larger than any other library in this local area, and the average turnaround time for receiving books from Pullman is only 4 working days.
In addition, WSU is part of the Orbis/Cascade Alliance, a consortium of 33 academic libraries in Washington and Oregon. The Alliance has a union library catalog (Summit) which allows you to search all member libraries at once and it provides for fast borrowing of materials between libraries. In most cases, you may also check out materials directly from these libraries using your WSU Vancouver ID card. If you need materials in order to prepare for a course that you will be teaching, please see a librarian about accessing these resources. If you have just been hired, the system may not recognize you as an authorized user but we will help you obtain what you need.
InterLibrary Loan Services
Materials not accessible through the WSU library system are usually obtainable from other libraries. This service is currently free of charge, except for photocopy charges (paid through your departmental budget). If you need materials in order to prepare for a course that you will be teaching, please see a librarian about accessing these resources. If you have just been hired, the system may not recognize you as an authorized user but we will help you obtain what you need. The About Interlibrary Loan page provides more information on this service.
Library Instruction
Library instruction comes in several forms; a lot of one-on-one instruction is done in the library, but when an entire class will be using the library for a research project, it is often much more useful to arrange for a formal instruction session by a librarian. The most common session is approximately 50 minutes, usually done as a guest lecture during the normal class period. Please contact a librarian early in the semester to make arrangements for a guest lecture.
Technology Instruction Sessions
Faculty and staff of Vancouver Information Services are also available to meet with individual classes to help students learn the technology they need in order to complete their class projects. Throughout fall and spring semesters, VIS offers a variety of workshops on library, Internet and technology topics. These workshops are free to WSU Vancouver faculty, staff and students. See the schedule for a listing of currently offered workshops.
Course Reserves
The library will put on reserve any item that follows the reserve guidelines and encourages faculty to make articles and other course notes available via electronic reserves. The WSU Guidelines suggest allowing two weeks for processing of reserves and the Vancouver Library requires at least 48 hours for processing. Copyright on reserve items can be complicated. You are encouraged to contact the Library as soon as you know you will be using reserves so that we can go over the guidelines and copyright with you.
The Reserves Information page includes more information on the system. or contact the faculty support person in your department. For more information on copyright, contact Rachel Bridgewater (bridgewa@vancouver.wsu.edu or 546-9694).
Circulation Policies
Faculty members are given semester-long loan privileges for materials from the WSU library system; however, materials are subject to recall if another patron requests them. Materials borrowed from Summit libraries or items borrowed through InterLibrary Loan will have much shorter borrowing times. All WSU library system materials can be renewed online or from the WSU Vancouver library. Journal issues do not circulate; however, a copy card for each department is available at the checkout desk for in-library photocopying.
Need Help?
If you have any questions or need clarification about the resources and services available to you, please let us know! There are numerous ways to contact us.