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The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Libraries Ask Us

Art

Find Your Item

Find Books and More In Our Discovery Search

Discovery Search contains the physical materials in the Five Colleges and some articles from a small selection of databases. The first step is to find and item is using the link below for Discovery Search. Please use the Advanced Search:

  1. Put the title in the first line of the search and change the box to TI Title.
  2. Put the last name of the author in the second line of the search and change the box to AU Author.
  3. Click Search.

Example:

Image showing an example search for Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower

Review the results to find the book and format you'd like to use.

Books are available electronically and in print. Depending on the format and availability of the item, how you will get access to it is different.

Finding Articles

There are two ways to find articles:

  • EJournal Finder 
    • This lets you search by the title of the journal to see if it's available in one of our hundreds of databases.
  • Databases A-Z
    • We subscribe to hundreds of databases on a variety of topics. Visit the Databases A-Z list and filter by subject to find databases relevant for your research.

Is It Available Electronically?

If we have the book available electronically, the record will have UMass: Link to resource above the Location field.

Example:

Umass Link to resource example

Once you have clicked on the link, you may be prompted for your NetID and password. We purchase ebooks from many vendors and the interfaces work differently.

Please note that if the Status field is Internet and the UMass: Link to resource is not showing, it means that we do not have electronic access to the book.

There are ebooks in the catalog that have a Location of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke or Smith. Those ebooks are only available remotely to the faculty, staff, and students of Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke or Smith. This is due to vendor licensing restrictions. You can go to those libraries and use one of their public terminals to access the ebook.

If we do not have an electronic version of the book, please submit an interlibrary loan request for the book using the link below and indicate if you'd like an electronic or print version of the book.

Is It Print?

 

  1. Check the Status and when applicable, the Due Date field.

Example:

 

 Status Field Says  What's Available To Me?
Available

Come to the library if the Location is UMass OR use the Place Request link if the Location is Amherst (AC), Hampshire (HC), Mount Holyoke (MH) or Smith (SC) OR request home delivery (see below for instructions).

If the item has a Location of UMass and a Status of Available, you can use the Place Request link to have the item held for you at the entry level information desk. You will need to wait until you receive an email that the item is ready before trying to pick it up.
Requested   Request a hold on the item by using the Place Request link. The patron who has the book will be notified that it has been recalled and needs to be returned to the Libraries. You will receive an email when the item is ready to be picked up.
Checked Out and there's a date in the Due Date field

Request a hold on the item by using the Place Request link. The patron who has the book will be notified that it has been recalled and needs to be returned to the Libraries. You will receive an email when the item is ready to be picked up.

If you need the item sooner, please submit a request via Interlibrary Loan.
Reserves...

Items on reserves are available only for a short amount of time. Make sure to look at the Location field to see which library the item is located. You can get Reserves items by asking for them at the Learning Commons Desk on the Lower Level of the Du Bois Library and at the desks on the main floor for both the Science & Engineering Library and Wadsworth Library.

If you want an item on reserve for a longer amount of time, submit a request via Interlibrary Loan. If it is a textbook, please do not submit via Interlibrary Loan. Instead, please email our Reserves department at reserves@umass.libanswers.com. 
Missing or something else that is not Available or Reserves or Requested Submit a request via Interlibrary Loan.

 

Delivery to Your Home Address

If you'd like to have items mailed to you, please use the Library Express service. Use the link below to see the instructions for how to have interlibrary loan items mailed to you. This includes both UMass and other libraries, including Five College libraries and interlibrary loan materials (as long as the owning library has not restricted it to use within the library only).

The Libraries will mail books to any off campus address within the United States, including those within the Pioneer Valley. 

I Can Find It Elsewhere: Does the Library Have It?

Articles

You can check to see if we have access to the journal that the article you want is in using:

  • eJournal Collection
    • You can search this list for the journal's title. It will show you if we have it available and what years of access we have.

If you're unable to find an article using the above tools, you can submit an interlibrary loan request. We will borrow a copy of the article for you!

Once you've logged into your account using your NetID and password, select New Request --> Article/Book Chapter from the top bar.

All Other Types of Materials

You can use the Interlibrary Loan link above to submit requests for other types of materials through interlibrary loan if we do not have them.

If you'd like help or would like to double-check with us first, please contact me!

I requested materials. Where do I go to pick them up?

Depending on what service you used to request the items, you will pick them up in different locations in the Libraries.

  • If you requested the item through our catalog Discovery Search (UMass-owned and 5 College items), you can designate which library you want to go to to pick it up  [UM Du Bois (Main) Library, UM Science & Engineering Library, or UM Wadsworth (Mt. Ida) Library].
    • For Du Bois, you will pick them up at shelves to the left of the Information Desk on the entrance level of the Du Bois Library. The items will be on the shelf by your last name.
    • For both the Science & Engineering Library and Wadsworth Library, you will pick them up at the desk on the main level of the library.
  • If you requested the item through Interlibrary Loan, you will pick them up at the Learning Commons Desk on the Lower Level of the Du Bois Library.