Finding Full Text: SPU and Beyond

Step 1:  Find citation using a database, Google Scholar as accessed via an SPU database list, or the SPU Library catalog.  (You may, of course, have been simply given a citation (author, title, date, etc.).)

Step 2:  Determine whether you're looking at the citation of

• a book.  If what you're looking at is the citation of a book, then
  • search the SPU Library catalog (set to SPU Library + Summit (the default)) for the book, and either
    • Sign in and open up the eBook if available (Immediate Access via the SPU Library);
    • pull the Print Book off the shelf at SPU and check it out (Immediate Access via the SPU Library);
    • Sign in, Request this SPU item (i.e. Print Book) for pickup, wait for notification, and then pickup (Immediate Access via the SPU Library); or
    • Sign in, Place Summit request for Print Book, wait for notification, and then pickup (Access within 3-5 days via Summit Borrowing).
  • search Libraries Worldwide (i.e. WorldCat), Request Interlibrary Loan of Print Book, wait for notification, and then pickup (Access within 14-21 days or so via InterLibrary Loan).  Last resort.  Request Interlibrary Loan only if the book in question is unavailable via both SPU and Summit Borrowing.
• an essay or chapter or entry in a book- or work-of-reference-on-paper.  If what you're looking at is the citation of an essay or chapter or entry in a book- or work-of-reference-on-paper, then either
  • follow the instructions for the book, above, or, if the Print Book is owned by SPU,
  • place an ARTICLE (Scanning) request via Interlibrary Loan and wait for electronic delivery.
• an article in a periodical (journal, magazine).  If what you're looking at is the citation of an article in a periodical, then follow the remaining steps below:

Immediate Access via the SPU Library or the Internet

Step 3:  Look for an indication of the presence of full-text, for example an icon indicating the presence of PDF or HTML.  (SPU and other full text indexed by Google Scholar will appear in Google Scholar, too, if accessed via SPU database lists.)

Step 4:  Check For Full Text link in database =Search for the periodical containing an article in the SPU Library catalog.  Should the former fail you, Check For Full Text is the equivalent of the latter, that is, an Advanced Search for the journal (not article) title in the SPU Library catalog.  Thus, Title contains "Theological studies", limited to Material Type:  Journals and Search Scope:  SPU Library:

This will tell you if the Library subscribes to or holds the periodical (and which issues of it) in

• Electronic form (cf. the EJOURNAL SEARCH in the Advanced Search area of the SPU Library catalog).
• Print (Library, Lower Level, alphabetically by title).  To procure full text from print
  • Locate the periodical (journal or magazine) and relevant volume/year and issue on the Lower Level alphabetically, and then either read or scan, or
  • Place an BOOK CHAPTER (Scanning) request via Interlibrary Loan and wait for electronic delivery.
• Microfilm (Library, Lower Level).  To procure full text from microfilm, place a Microfilm Reprint Request and wait for electronic delivery.

Step 5:  Look for the periodical homepage over the Internet.  Some respectable journals make at least some back issues available at no charge from their own websites.

Access within 1 day via a Seattle Library

Step 6:  Consult the catalogs of other libraries in your area, for example those of the University of Washington and Seattle University (or the Seattle or King County public) library systems.  It may be that you can get what you need in an hour or two by making a quick trip across town.  (The full text of an eJournal at the University of Washington, for example, may be accessible from a laptop on the University of Washington campus even if the University of Washington's traditional journals-available-only-on-paper are not because the relevant building is closed.)

Access within 3-21 days via InterLibrary Loan

Step 7:  Request via Interlibrary Loan link in database =Request the article via InterLibrary Loan.  To do this, click within an SPU database on Request via Interlibrary Loan or proceed to the manual InterLibrary Loan form.  Most (though not all) articles (as distinguished from books) requested via InterLibrary Loan are received within a few (say two or three) days.

The Library's stacks are open, so you may of course bring your selections to the Front Desk for checkout yourself during regular Library Hours.

But if you would like an item pulled for you, use the Library catalog to locate the record for it, Sign in, and Request this SPU item.  Library staff will then pull the book and check it out to you, thus generating a notification that it is ready for Contactless Pickup in the Reading Room on the Main Floor of the Ames Library.  This notification will come to your SPU email account and be labelled On Hold Shelf.

Request this SPU item demands placed in this way electronically will be processed at regular intervals throughout the day.  Comparable such requests placed on the spot in person cannot normally be accommodated.

Contactless Pickup is also the method of Summit (Place Summit request) and InterLibrary Loan (Request Interlibrary loan) delivery.

Questions?  Contact the Front Desk at circ@spu.edu or (206) 281-2228. 

Already noted at appropriate points in the Overview above is the fact that the Library offers a scanning service.  Essays or chapters or entries in books-on-paper as well as articles in periodicals-on-paper owned by SPU and present in the Ames Library are subject to this.  Thus, faculty, staff, and students may request that a scan of 1) one essay, chapter, or entry per book-on-paper or 2) up to two articles per issue-on-paper be sent to their SPU e-mail address. The scanning process can take 3-4 business days to complete. To request a scan of an item, use the InterLibrary Loan department's ARTICLE and BOOK CHAPTER request forms, as appropriate.

Also noted at appropriate points in the Overview above is the fact that the Library facilitates Interlibrary Loan. . . .