Use the CSC Library from Home

The CSC Library provides many library services and resources online -- to students outside the library's walls, off-campus, and even out of the Twin Cities metro area.

Contents:

• Contact the Library -- before you get here
• Finding books, videos, sound recordings, and other items -- use CLICnet
• Finding journal articles and other resources -- use databases
• Research Tips -- helpful hints
• Reference -- ask questions
• Interlibrary Loan -- get books and articles from other libraries
• Course Reserves -- find articles your instructors put on reserve
• Services not offered -- sorry!

Contacting the CSC Library

Contact the Library -- by phone, fax, email, mail, or car

Library Hours

Finding books, videos, sound recordings, and other items in the Library

Use CLICnet, the CSC Library catalog, to find books, videos, sound recordings, and other items the Library owns:

• Guide to using CLICnet (PDF version: Guide)
• Information about using My Account on: My CLICnet

Getting CLICnet items:

• If you are off-campus and a book you need is available, you can use the red request button on the CLICnet screen to have the item held at the Circulation Desk for you to pick up. Requested books will be held for two weeks. Be sure to have your ID.
• CLICnet also shows items owned by the other CLIC institutions. You can use the red request button to have these items sent to St. Kate's (or any other CLIC library) for you to pick up as well.
• HINT: To ensure a requested book will be there for you, make your requests a week before you will be on campus.
• CLICnet includes many electronic books which you can access directly from your computer. For more information, see our guide to NetLibrary.

Finding other books:

• MNLink: a catalog for all libraries in Minnesota. You can search individual libraries, or all libraries in a particular region, to find if any near you have a book you want
• MNCAT: the University of Minnesota catalog
• You can check your local libraries for resources as well. Ask your public library about using their Interlibrary Loan to get items from St. Kate's.
• If you are near a college, ask about special borrower cards--many colleges provide them (for a fee) to local residents.

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Finding journal articles and other resources

Library databases contain citations to journal articles and other resources on your topic. Under Find Articles on the Library's homepage, follow the Databases link. In some cases, the full text is available online (meaning you can read and print the entire article from your home computer).

• For off-campus access to most of our databases you will need to use your KateWay login. 
• Some databases require a password; you can look up passwords here.
• For more information, see Connecting to Library Databases from Off Campus.

A few tips:

• Articles from scholarly journals will usually give the best information. See the PDF guide to: What is a scholarly journal?
• Once you have a citation, consult our guide to finding journal articles (PDF) to get the actual article.
• Check the Periodical Cat to see which journals are available from St. Kate's
• Use Interlibrary Loan to request articles from journals not listed on the Periodical Cat

Other places to find information on your topic:

• Check the Research Guides on your subject for resources selected by the librarians at St. Kate's
• See our guide to Finding newspaper articles (PDF)

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Research tips

• Print out copies of Library handouts to consult as you search. Also print out ALL the articles you use from databases and the Internet to make citing your sources easier.
• Consult with the Reference Librarian liaisons for your department.
• Use Boolean logic or truncation to make your searching more effective.
• If St. Kate's doesn't have the journal you need, and you don't want to wait for Interlibrary Loan, maybe you can find it at a local library. Check MnLINK and perform a Title search for the journal's title. This will tell you which libraries in Minnesota and parts of North and South Dakota have the journal you need.
• Check a style guide for help citing sources you use.

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Reference: Asking Questions and Getting Help

Librarians are available to answer reference questions by phone or email.

• By Phone: (If you call when a librarian is not available, leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible, or at the start of the next business day. )
  • On the St. Paul campus the phone number for the Reference Desk is 651.690.6652. Please check the reference hours to make sure a librarian is available to take your call.
  • On the Minneapolis campus, call 651. 690.7898 or 651.690.7784 for Reference assistance. Someone is available to help you Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, and occasionally on evenings and weekends
• By Chat: use the following screen names to contact a librarian.  For more information see our IM reference page.
• AIM, iChat or Yahoo!: stkatesrefdesk
• MSN: stkatesrefdesk@hotmail.com
• Google Talk: stkatesrefdesk@gmail.com
• By Email:
  • You may Ask a Reference Question at any time
  • Contact the Reference Librarian responsible for your department

More information about Reference services is available from the St. Paul Reference page.

You can also try our Frequently Asked Questions page for help.

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Interlibrary Loan (ILL): Getting Items from Other Libraries

Members of the St. Kate's community may request books and journal articles not owned by the CSC Library.

Requesting items via ILL:

• Forms for placing ILL requests are available online.
• You will need to know your library barcode (on the back of your student ID) to use these forms. This number is found on the back of your student ID Card.

Some points to keep in mind:

• Use ILL only for items not in the CSC Library. Check the Periodical Cat to make sure the journal is not available from the CSC Library. Your request will NOT be processed if the item is available from CLICnet. In other words, if CSC does not have a book, but another CLIC school does, request it through CLICnet. PLEASE DO NOT USE Interlibrary Loan.
• If you live outside the Twin Cities Metro area (which includes Hennepin, Ramsey, Anoka, Dakota, Washington, Carver and Scott counties) you may request articles from journals CSC owns. These can be mailed or faxed to you. Please refer to the ILL web page for more information.
• Due to copyright laws, you may not request an entire issue of a journal--only individual articles.
• To obtain journal articles you will need to select a delivery method. Articles may be sent via mail or electronic in some cases.
• We are unable to mail books requested via CLICnet at this time. You will need to come to the Library to pick them up.
• Plan ahead! Allow a week for holds placed on CLICnet to arrive at St. Kate's for you to pick up. Allow 1-2 weeks for your ILL requests to be processed.

Our web page for Interlibrary Loan, will give you more information about our policies and procedures.

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Course Reserves (E-reserves)

Instructors often place articles or papers on reserve in the Library.

• You can retrieve many of these through CLICnet and print out copies. Use the links in the bottom left corner of the CLICnet opening screen.
• In order to view items on e-reserves you will need to know your library barcode, found on the back of your student ID.
• See the Reserves page for more information about e-reserves.

Services not offered at this time

• Literature searches (As a teaching institution, we feel it is important for you to learn how to find information for yourself. We can suggest resources and databases, and help you locate materials, but you must perform your searches and evaluate what you find on your own.)
• Copying or faxing of articles in journals owned by CSC, unless you live outside the Twin Cities seven-county Metro area. (Sorry, we do not have the staff to provide copying, faxing, or mailing services. You must come to the Library to do your own copying.)
• Mailing books requested through CLICnet to your home

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