Faculty/Instructor Checklist
Welcome to the University of Washington Tacoma Library!
The UW Tacoma Library is part of the University Libraries serving the University of Washington campuses at Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma. The immediate benefit of this relationship for you as a new UW Tacoma faculty member is access to the entirety of the collections and services of one of the largest academic research libraries in the United States. Below is information to help familiarize you with our services and resources. Please contact us if you need additional assistance. We look forward to working with you!
Your UW identification (Husky) card is your Library card.
Note: Library cards are available to spouses and domestic partners at no cost; please ask at the UW Tacoma Library Circulation Desk about this option.
You will need to use your UW NetID for access from home and to request books and articles.UW Tacoma librarians serve as liaisons to faculty in each program. We are responsible for selecting resources in specific subject areas to support the UW Tacoma curricula and for coordinating faculty requests for purchasing library materials. You may also consult your subject librarian if you have research questions or would like to request library instruction for your classes (see Classroom Instruction below).
To find out who your liaison is, see Subject Librarians. Your subject librarian would enjoy meeting with you in your first quarter at UW Tacoma and will be in touch to set up an appointment.
The UW Tacoma librarians are committed to working with you on the development of research-based, library-related assignments. We can help you identify UW Tacoma resources for students' research and advise you about the availability of materials located in other libraries. Delivery times vary for materials located outside the UW Libraries and are generally longer than for those within the UW Libraries. Your subject librarian can provide important information about the extra time students need to complete the research component of an assignment. We encourage faculty members to provide time-related advice in assignment descriptions or in syllabi to help students recognize the importance of scheduling their research appropriately.
We can also provide general and assignment-specific instructional sessions for your classes. A session may include developing effective search strategies, using specific resources (databases, etc.), evaluating resources, using the web effectively, etc. Please request a session at least one week before you plan to include it in your class schedule. We are happy to schedule sessions well in advance so you can include them in your syllabi. See Course Related Instruction for more information on how to arrange a class.
The Media Collection has videos available to support you teaching and research. You can schedule these videos in advance for use in your classes through our on-line scheduling form.
To learn more about the services available to you, please see Media Collection: Information for Faculty. Send any questions you may have about media to taclibav@uw.edu.
The UW Tacoma Library allows you to put class readings on either regular Reserves or eReserves. If you want materials to be available on Reserve by the first day of the quarter, please send them to the UW Tacoma Library a minimum of four weeks prior to the beginning of the quarter. For more information see Instructor's guide to using course reserves
From the UW Tacoma Library homepage you will find many useful links to help you get started with your research. It provides a search box for the UW Libraries Catalog and to numerous Research/Article databases. UW Tacoma Library users have access to materials in all UW campus libraries. In most cases, you can order materials from other UW libraries and pick them up at the UW Tacoma Library Circulation Desk, usually in 3-4 business days. Courier service is provided Monday - Friday.
Finding Books
Books within the UW Libraries can be located by searcing the UW Libraries Catalog.
If the book's location is not Tacoma, you can click on the Request button to have an available item shipped to UW Tacoma Library. Enter your UW Net ID,
select a pick-up location, and click the submit button. On the next screen, if there is more than one copy available, select the copy you want and click
the request button - after which you will see a message indicating whether your request has been successful. If an item cannot be requested, you will
see a message indicating this.
The UW Libraries is part of Summit, which allows you to access resources held by a consortium of academic libraries in Washington and Oregon. You can initiate a search in the UW Libraries catalog by clicking on the "Repeat in UW WorldCat (includes Summit)" button to repeat your search and order available materials through that system.
You can also search for books in UW WorldCat. In UW WorldCat, you can search holdings from UW, Summit libraries, and libraries worldwide. You can request items to have them delivered to UW Tacoma Library.
You can also browse the collection. We use the Library of Congress Classification scheme so books are arranged by Subject. To view the list of Call Numbers by Subject, go to http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/.
Finding Articles
To locate articles, begin searching a general database like Academic
Search Complete. These databases cover many different subjects and include both popular and scholarly publications.
You may also want to explore one of the many subject specific databases available. If you are not sure which one will be useful, browse the Research
Guides or talk with a reference librarian for suggestions.
To order articles not available electronically or in the UW Tacoma Library, from the UW Tacoma Library homepage, select Book & Article
Delivery. From here you can order articles from other UW libraries or from non-UW libraries.
UW Tacoma library materials are loaned to faculty on a quarterly basis, however, items may be recalled at the request of another user (original borrowers are assured a loan of two weeks before a recall is honored). Books may be renewed indefinitely, unless a hold has been placed on them. Renewals may be made in person, by telephone, by mail, or via Your Library Account.
Each library within the UW Libraries system has a different borrowing period, so please be sure to verify loan periods. The borrowing period for materials ordered through Summit is generally three weeks.
Faculty must renew or return their quarterly loans by the due dates. Failure to do so may result in fines and/or fees.
For information on fines, see Borrowing Information: Fine Amounts
If you have research assistants, a proxy card must be obtained for them to use when ordering or picking up materials on your behalf. Please come to the UW Tacoma Library Circulation Desk with your research assistant and complete an "Application for Proxy Borrowing Privileges." Note that you, the faculty member, are responsible for items checked out on this card. For more information see Proxy Borrowing Privileges
11. Copyright Information for Educators
UW Libraries has compiled a list of Copyright Information for Educators resources to help answer your questions.
The UW Libraries provides notification services which you can customize to match your own research interests.
The Libraries has a search service that is available directly through the online catalog called Preferred Searches. This function allows you to save searches and have them run on a weekly basis to display new material that meets the search criteria. Subscribers can receive an email notification when relevant materials have been added to the catalog.
Many databases allow you to save search queries in databases that can be re-run automatically. You can also receive Table of Content alerts from many journals. For instructions on how to set up search and journal alerts, see Keeping Current in Your Field.
13. New Media Lists
Every month, the Media Collection posts a list of new videos and CDs. To see the most recent list, visit the UW Tacoma Library Media Collection blog.
14. New Books Lists
