About Us>>Services for Professional Studies Learners

Professional Studies

• Introduction to the Library - PS Version
• Video - Orientation to the Library
• Library Tutorials
   
• Ask Questions, Get Answers
• Find Articles & Books
• Retrieve Full Text Articles
• Accessing Online Resources
• Improve Loading Speed
• Interlibrary Loan
• Database Terms

Ask Questions, Get Answers
	Call the Library 620.229.6225 or 1.866.734.1275
	Email the Library Email Tech Support Librarians try to respond to all emails within 1 business day.
	Text a Librarian SMS to 66746 Type sclib Type your message Text us anytime Monday-Friday before 5pm. All questions after 5pm will be answered the following business day.
	Ask a Librarian Instant Message the Library. Found on every webpage beneath the navigation menu.
	Online Forms ILL Request Form - Book ILL Request Form - Article Request SC Library Item

Find Articles from Journals, Magazines, Newspapers & Books
Databases listed under Find Articles index articles on various topics. Some have only citations and abstracts while others provide the full text article. Although the information is accessed on the Internet, they are not web pages but actual journal, magazine, and/or newspaper articles.

Reference ebooks and ebooks, an entire print book converted into an electronic format, are listed on their respective web pages. Some must be read online, and some can be downloaded to your computer to read offline. Downloadable ebooks "checkout" for 1-3 weeks.

Retrieve Full Text Articles
If the database provides full text articles, you simply need to click on the hyperlink to retrieve it. If the database does not have full text, you may need to use the "Link to Full Text" or "Check for Full Text" hyperlinks to access it through another database.

Another method to retrieve full-text articles is to search Find Full Text Periodicals. Search by the title of the periodical to find if full text is carried in a database. Use Find an Article with a Citation to find an article when you only have the citation.

Finally, you can search the Internet to see if the article has been archived and is available for free. Google and Resource Library are two of the best search engines for this.

If the above methods fail, contact a librarian for assistance or request the article through Interlibrary Loan. more information

Accessing Online Resources
All the online resources can be accessed off-campus 24/7.

Because the library pays for them, they are password protected. When prompted, you will need to enter your Southwestern learner ID number and last 5 digits of your social security number (or last 5 digits of your SC learner ID number) as your password. To find out your SC learner ID, please contact your advisor or the library.

Please note that learners logging on from the Kansas National Guard base have reported that they are unable to log into our online services, probably due to military firewalls. They have reported that they can log in from off-base locations, such as at home or at one of the Professional Studies centers.

SC ID numbers and passwords are updated every weekday. Therefore, there may be a lag time over weekends before your ID number will work to open the databases. If you have problems logging in, please email tech support.

Improve Loading Speed
If you are not using broadband, the loading of some of the online resources may take awhile. Some PS learners informed the library that using Google Chrome rather than Internet Explorer helped to speed up the loading. A link to download Chrome is at the top of the page. Firefox and other Internet browsers may also be faster than Internet Explorer.

Another option that is only provided in ProQuest databases such as ABI/Inform, ProQuest Nursing, and ProQuest Religion is to use the Text-Only Interface. When you first open one of these databases, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link "Text-Only Interface" under the ProQuest logo. This will remove the graphics and speed up the loading. Also this preference should be remembered by your browser so you won't need to do it every time you access the database.

Interlibrary Loan
You may use interlibrary loan to request an item that the library owns or does not own.

Items that the library owns will be shipped to you free. However, you are responsible for its return. You may return it to a Professional Studies Center or the Library in Winfield, or you may mail it. If you mail it, you must pay for the return postage (media rate may be cheaper than standard). Complete the Request SC Material form to have an item checked out and mailed to you.

Items that the library does not own will take a while for you to receive. This is because the item will be mailed to the SC library from the lending library before it will be mailed to you.

Contact Cheryl Barnett 620.229.6312 if you have questions.

Database Terms
Full Text = the entire article usually as a PDF and/or HTML (webpage)

Citation = only the publication information is provided such as author, title, page numbers, publication title, etc. Check under Periodical Holdings to see if the library has the article in another database. If not, the article can be borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.

Abstract = an overview of the article's information is provided. Reading an abstract allows you to figure out if the article is relevant to your topic before you read the article or go through the process of finding the full text article.

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