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Ask a Librarian
Frequently Used Answers

Ask a Librarian
Frequently Used Answers/Phrases

Preferred Online Catalog Searches

To save search queries for rerunning later to get updated results or to have automatic alerts emailed to you for new titles cataloged at the Library on your topic, follow these steps:


1. From the Library's home page (http://www.asu.edu/lib/) click on MY ACCOUNTS and choose MY LIBRARY ACCOUNT

2. Login with your ASURITE id and password

3. Click on START OVER button on the left.

4. Do a search in the catalog

5. Check mark at least one record or open a record.

6. Click on the SAVE AS PREFERRED SEARCH (on the right).

7. To see that it saved, click on the PATRON RECORD blue button on the left.

8. Click on PREFERRED SEARCHES (in the middle of the screen to the left of your name) to see the search.

9. If you want an email notice whenever the Library catalogs a new book on your topic, check mark the box under MARK FOR EMAIL. Then, every Monday the computer checks for any newly processed books on your topic & sends an email if any are found.

10. Click on UPDATE LIST

11. If you want to remove a search, check mark the box under MARK TO REMOVE, then click on UPDATE LIST.

12. To erase all searches, click on CLEAR ALL SEARCHES.

13. Logout of MY ACCOUNT by clicking on the LOGOUT button under your name (on the left side of the screen.)




Non-affiliated Response

Ask a Librarian provides email-based reference service primarily for ASU students, faculty & staff, in support of teaching and research at Arizona State University. Questions from Arizona residents will be answered as time and resources permit. Questions from persons who are not affiliated with ASU and who are not Arizona residents are answered if inquiries are relevant to the ASU Libraries' services, special strengths and/or unique collections.


Since you are not an Arizona resident and your question is not about our services or organization and is not related to our special strengths and/or unique collections, we will not be able to answer it for you. A good alternative is your local public or academic library which very likely provides a reference service by e-mail or phone. We encourage you to contact them for help with your question. For a listing of libraries, please consult the Yahoo! Library Reference listing at http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/.


You may also try using some Internet web sites to research your question such as the Librarians Index to the Internet (http://lii.org/), or the Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/). In addition, you can search the Internet for information on your topic using search engines like Google (http://www.google.com) or Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com).



Dissertations from ASU (non-ASU customers)

The three ways to obtain ASU dissertations and theses are by:


1. Purchasing a copy directly from ProQuest. The URL for their online order service is http://www.umi.com/hp/Products/Dissertations.html

2. Going through the traditional Interlibrary Loan method through your local library. The address for the ASU ILL Department is: Interlibrary Loan Department, Hayden Library, Arizona State University, PO Box 871006, Tempe, AZ 85287-1006, Phone: (480) 965 - 3282 Fax: (480) 965 - 9486, email: ill@mainex1.asu.edu

3. Contacting ASU's University Archives (email: archives@mainex1.asu.edu; phone 480 965-4932). Archives will duplicate the entirety of a thesis or dissertation with a charge of fifteen cents/page plus $2.50 postage/handling.




Dissertations at ASU (ASU customers)

ASU Doctoral Dissertations are available in electronic format from 1979- . To use the electronic copy, search the ASU Doctoral Dissertations: Current Research (http://www.asu.edu/lib/resources/db/docdiss.htm) by author, title, or keyword. The database has citations for doctoral dissertations from 1954-, but only those with the PDF format logo with the citation have been digitized.

All ASU Dissertations and theses may be found using the ASU Libraries Online Catalog and search by author, title, or keyword. To retrieve a list of dissertations and theses from a specific ASU Department, do a KEYWORD search using the words ASU DISSERTATIONS and a key word from the name of the department. For example, to find a list of geology dissertations and theses granted by ASU, enter: ASU Dissertations Geology.


For more detailed instructions on finding dissertations, go to http://www.asu.edu/lib/help/disserta.htm



Off Campus Access to Article Databases


1. Go to the main library home page at http://www.asu.edu/lib

2. Select Find Articles

3. Enter the index/database name in the Index by Name box, choose letter from "Alphabetical list", or choose "Subject" pull down menu

4. Click on the underlined title of the index/database

5. Click again on the underlined title link in the middle of the page.

6. If you are off campus you will be prompted to enter your ASURITE ID and password.




Access to Ejournals

To get to an online journal article from off campus:


1. Go to the main library home page at http://www.asu.edu/lib

2. Select Find - Journals from the top section

3. Enter the title of the journal you are looking for in the "FIND A JOURNAL where..." box.

4. Click on underlined database name of the journal title that you are interested in.

5. If you are off campus you will be prompted to enter your ASURITE ID and password.


Please note - some of these links will take you directly to the journal's home page, but some of them lead you to an article database where you will have to search for the specific article you are looking for.



Community Card

The ASU Libraries are open to anyone who wishes to visit and use our resources and materials. We have a community card that is available to be purchased for those who live locally and wish to borrow books from our collection. There is an annual fee of $100 for the basic community card, but other categories of cards exist as well (see http://www.asu.edu/lib/access/comm.html for the entire list). Categories of community cards that carry a fee must be applied for in person at the Hayden Library circulation desk. If no fee needs to be paid, then you may obtain a card at any other campus library location. Please note: Off campus/remote access to electronic resources is not available with any community card.


More information about the community card can be found at http://www.asu.edu/lib/access/comm.html.



Referrals to LIST/Problem Tickets

I'm sorry you are having difficulties with this resource. I have reported it to our systems department, and have opened a problem ticket (#___). We will try to rectify this problem as soon as possible.


You can check the status of this report by contacting the library's systems help desk directly at 480-965-9093.



Guns, Collectibles, Appraisals

Unfortunately, the ASU Ask a Librarian email reference service is unable to provide information regarding the history, appraisals, or financial worth of guns, books, manuscripts, antiques, art objects and other collectibles. We recommend contacting your local public library, since they usually have books on collectibles with descriptions and pricing/value. If you would like to do more via the Internet, the Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/ ) has FAQs and Pathfinders. Booksellers such as Borders (http://www.borders.com), Barnes and Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com), or Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) also have books on the history of such collectibles.


Use a search engine like Google (http://www.google.com) or Yahoo (http://www.yahooo.com) to find web sites that might offer more information on the item you are researching. For example, a Google search for "guns" located the following:


-- Cody Firearms Museum FAQ (http://www.bbhc.org/firearms/QandA.cfm)


-- Antique Guns - Photo Identification page (http://www.antiqueguns.com/classified_ads/html/main/)


-- Firearm Sounds (http://www.recguns.com/gunSounds.html)


-- Electronic Blue Book of Gun Values: (http://www.digitalriver.com/v2.0-img/operations/bluebook/desc/ebb.htm)


-- Gallery of Guns (http://www.galleryofguns.com/)


Or check for a web site of the firearm's (gun) manufacturer.



Requesting Videos from ASU West

You can request Videos from Fletcher Librar at the West campus or the Library at the Polytechnic campus to be sent to you through our online catalog, just like a book. You click on the "Request" button at the top of the catalog information screen. This will bring you to a screen that will ask for your ASURITE ID and password. (See http://www.asu.edu/it/asurite/ for details on the ASURITE ID system.) You then need to select the library where you want to pick up the video when it becomes available. Then click on "Submit".



Paying Library Fines

You have some options to pay your library fines.


To pay in person at the library you can go to the Billing Office at Hayden Library and pay by cash, check or credit card. You can also pay in person at the Circulation Desk of Hayden Library when the Billing Office is closed, but they are only able to accept cash or checks.


You can pay online by credit card through ASU Interactive.


-- Go to http://www.asu.edu/interactive.


-- Log in with your ASURITE ID and password

-- Scroll down to the "Financial Services" section and choose the link that says "Pay your Accounts Receivable Balance by Credit Card"

-- Scroll down to the bottom of the next page and click "Continue"

-- You will then see the balance due on your account. Enter in the amount you need to pay and choose "Pay" button to pay by credit card.


More information about paying fines can be found at http://www.asu.edu/lib/access/fines.htm.



ILL Status

To check on the status of any ILL request,


1. Go the the main library web page at http://www.asu.edu/lib

2. Choose "Interlibrary Loan" from the "Services" section

3. Click on "Place an order ... "

4. Log in with your ASURITE ID and ILLiad password

5. Scroll down to the section labelled "Review Requests"

6. Choose the button labelled "View/Modify Outstanding Requests"


The next screen will be a list of your requests and where they are in the process.



ASU Budget Book, ASU Faculty Salaries

(For local requests):

The latest University Budget, which contains information on ASU faculty and staff salaries is on Reserve in the Hayden and/or Noble Libraries:

State operating budget by organizational area.; Arizona State University -- LD179.03.A3 A75x

or

State operating budget by state program.; Arizona State University -- LD179.03 .A3 A752x

It is not currently available online.

(For non-ASU requests):

You may make an Interlibrary Loan request through your local library. We do not accept these requests from individuals.


1. Request the salaries of the department that interests you by naming the department or program; make sure this is a copy request rather than a book request.

2. Give the following citation and specify the academic year (such as 2004/2005):

Author: Arizona State University
Title: State Operating Budget by Organizational Area --or-- State Operating Budget by State Program
Publisher: Tempe, Ariz. : The University, 1997-
3. Have your local Interlibrary Loan department send the request to us:


The address and fax number for ASU Libraries ILL department is:


Interlibrary Loan Department
Hayden Library
Arizona State University
PO Box 871006
Tempe, AZ 85287-1006
Phone: (480) 965 - 3282
Fax: (480) 965 - 9486
email: ill@mainex1.asu.edu

Citation Searching in Web of Science

Intructions with screen captures are at http://www.asu.edu/lib/noble/earth/wofs.htm


or use the following instructional text....


How to find the “citation count” and “who has cited an article”:


1. Access ISI Web of Science from http://www.asu.edu/lib/resources/db/webscience.htm (sign in for off campus use if necessary)

2. Click on "Web Of Science - GO" in the middle of the next page (it's highlighted with a gray background)

3. Choose "Cited Reference Search"

4. In the “Cited Author” box, type in the author's name.

Kouvetakis J*
Buseck P*
See also “Searching Tips” below for more complex searching.

1. Select the items of interest (be sure to scroll through the list to find mis-citations and well as the correct citations), clicking in the box on the left for each item or using the “Select Page” button to select all items on the page.

2. Click on the “Search” button to retrieve the list of articles that cite the author's publications (i.e, the “citing references”).



How to eliminate self-citations:

1. Follow steps above; this will create a “set” of the citing references.

2. At the top of the page, click on the “General Search” button.

3. In the author box, put in the authors name with last name, first initial plus truncation. (See step #5 for examples) This will create a “set” of all the author's journal articles.

4. At the top of the page, click on the “Combine Searches” button.

5. Type set number of the citing references NOT the set number of the author's article. Example: #1 NOT #2 If you needed multiple searches to retrieve all of the citing references, “nest” those set numbers with OR and NOT out the author's articles. Example: (#1 OR #2 OR #3) NOT #4



Searching tips for citation searching:

The object in citation searching is to retrieve a comprehensive list of the author's cited publications, so that the mis-citations may be found as well as the correct citations for the items of interest. If possible, the best search is just the author's last name and first initial plus truncation to retrieve all variations in the author's name. (See step 5 above for examples.) This search will retrieve all forms for all of the author's cited publications. Do not try to find just the correct citation by completely filling in the cited ref search form; the less put in the search form, the better the retrieval.


Sometimes it will not be possible to search just the author's name and first initial because of the author's many publications, a common last name, or long computer search times that will go beyond the system limits. In those cases try the following strategies.


1. Use the author name with first initial and OR the author's name with first and middle initials. Example: buseck p or buseck pr

2. Combine the author with a date; be sure to include the likely variations in the date. Search the year before, the year after and the year inverted. For example, if the year of the citation is 1992, in the date field put “1991 OR 1992 OR 1993 OR 1929”. If search time limits are exceeded, then search each year separately with the author.

3. Combine the author with the abbreviations of the cited work; be sure to include the likely variations in the cited work field. For example, if the cited work is Journal of Solid State Chem, put “ J Sol* OR Sol* OR JSSC”. This would retrieve Journal of Solid State Chemistry (the correct journal name), Solid State Chemistry (an incorrect journal name in which the “Journal of” was dropped – a common occurrence), and the acronym if the journal title.

4. If possible, avoid using all 3 fields on the search form.

5. If more than one search is needed to find the author's cited publications, that's OK. The “Combine Search” feature can be used to put all the citing references together in one set by “OR-ing” the set numbers. Examples #1 OR #2 OR #3



NAU Distance Education

From home, you have the full access of everything available to all NAU students from the Cline Library at NAU (http://www.nau.edu/cline).


You will need to be sure you have activated your e-mail account (Louie is the NAU computer accounts management service. https://directory.nau.edu/password/passwordchange.cgi?)


The web page for NAU Library's educational resources is http://www2.nau.edu/%7Elibei-p/info/resources.cfm?subject=Education


We recommend that you use NAU resources whenever possible because NAU students do not have access to ASU's online databases from home. You are, of course, welcome to visit any ASU Library & use our resources. To check out materials from ASU you will need your NAU paid fee statement as proof of enrollment. The allows you to take advantage of the borrowing privileges that NAU students have at ASU.


To borrow material from another library, you still need to use the NAU Interlibrary Loan service (http://illiad.nau.edu/illiad/)


The NAU Library has its own ASK A LIBRARIAN service (https://www.nau.edu/library/services/request/askalibrarian.html) that is useful, particularly for help with research on your NAU class projects.


For a list of library services available to NAU students go to http://www.nau.edu/library/services/.



Gold Files

The Gold Files were standardized frequently asked for searches from the ERIC education database that were available to anyone for purchase from our College of Education. They are no longer available.


You may search the ERIC database without cost at http://www.eduref.org/Eric/.



Books on tape

We do have, "Books-on-Tape," in our collection. However that being said, due to our collection development policy, we do not have a large collection of, "Books-on-Tape."



You could also try searching the collection of you local public library. Public libraries tend to have a larger Books-on-Tape collections than academic libraries.



Signing up for netLibrary

The first step to use ASU's NetLibrary collection from off campus is is to sign up for a netLibrary account from the netLibrary homepage. To do this you must use a computer that is located on-campus to fill out the online form provided under the option for "Create a Free Account" in the navigation bar on top right of the netLibrary home page (http://www.netlibrary.com/CreateAccount.aspx). With an account, you will be able to read the netLibrary collection of 3,823 public eBooks and the entire ASU Libraries eBook collection, on or off-campus. KEEP IN MIND: you must be using a computer located on campus (e.g. ASU Libraries, Computing Commons, etc.) to create your account. After the account is created you may use it from off-campus computers.


If you are a enrolled in a distant education program and are not able to come to campus to set up your account, please email us the information we would need to fill out the form for you. We will be happy to assist you in this process.



Electronic reserve

To access electronic articles for your courses, follow these steps:


1. From the ASU Libraries web page (http://www.asu.edu/lib), select "Course Reserves" from the main navigation bar.

2. Select either "By Course" (to access with course number, CON101) or "By Instructor" (to access by instructor's name)

3. After selecting one of the above, enter your search. You should see a listing of reserve items. Items that have the designation, "Electronic Reserve," are the ones that are available remotely in PDF (Adobe) format. You will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files. It is available for free at: http://www.adobe.com.

4. After reading the copyright statement, click on the link "Accept the policy cited above...." You will then be prompted to enter your ASURITE ID and password. The Adobe Acrobat Reader will launch and you should be able to read and print a copy of the item.



ILL address

The address and fax number for ASU Libraries ILL department is:


Interlibrary Loan Department

Hayden Library

Arizona State University

PO Box 871006

Tempe, AZ 85287-1006

Phone: (480) 965 - 3282

Fax: (480) 965 - 9486

email: ill@mainex1.asu.edu



Typewriters in Hayden Library

We no longer have typewriters available in any Tempe campus library. You can access typewriters at the Tempe Public Library (http://www.tempe.gov/library)however, which is located at the southwest corner of Rural and Southern. You will need to obtain a Tempe Public Library card, and provide your own paper.



Using EndNote

***Note: The library has now licensed Refworks (http://www.asu.edu/refworks) for citation management. This is a totally web based product, and you can search the online catalog directly through its interface. ***


Library Information, Systems, & Technology department (LIST) has created a HELP page which explains how to configure the EndNote software to search and retrieve records from the ASU Libraries' On-Line Catalog using the Z39.50 protocol. The step-by-step HELP page may be found at: http://www.asu.edu/lib/help/endnote/.


EndNote will also work with databases running on the WebSpirs search interface. There are instructions for capturing citations from WebSpirs in the EndNote user manual. Remember to use a text format when downloading WebSpirs records to be imported into EndNote otherwise they will be saved as HTML which EndNote does not recognize.


Because the Library does not have a license for the EndNote software, we do not have access to it or the user manual and are unable to provide specific assistance in using the product beyond the information provided above. Please refer to the EndNote user manual or to the software producer's website http://www.isiresearchsoft.com/ for additional assistance.




Alumni borrowing card

The process for obtaining your Alumni borrowing card at the reduced rate of $25/year requires that you first register with the ASU Alumni Association (either online at http://www.asu.edu/alumni/ or in person in their office). They will then send you a card. Once you receive that card, you will need to bring it in to any ASU campus library to be activiated in our system. More information on our community card, and what services it provides can be found at http://www.asu.edu/lib/access/comm.html


If you have any additional questions, please let us know. Or you can call our circulation department directly at 480-965-3605 or 480-965-2600.




ILL information for non-ASU patrons

The procedure to request materials from the ASU Libraries requires that you contact the Interlibrary Loan department of your local library. They will make the formal request from ASU for you.




Referral notification

Your message has been forwarded to someone who can better answer your question. Each department within the Library has its own policy regarding response time but you should be receiving a reply from them soon.


Page last modified: April 02, 2008