Library Support during Summer Term

Though the campuses of Miami University Regionals are closed to all but essential personnel, the library is still offering what services we can remotely. Watch this blog or any of our social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook) for news of when we will re-open. Here’s what we can offer:
Research Help – Reach out to us by email or chat
E-Books – We have thousands of scholarly e-books. Limit your search to “Electronic Resources” after running your search.
Research Databases – Our subscription research databases are already set for off-campus access. If you aren’t sure which one to use, please ask!

Finding and Accessing E-Books

Even though the libraries are shut down you can still access a lot of high-quality scholarly and professional e-books. In the library catalog, just run a search on your topic and then limit by Material Type: Electronic Resources. You can also search several e-book platforms directly using the links below. Two of the larger collections are Safari Books Online and OhioLINK Electronic Book Center. Some of the platforms allow only 1 user at a time. You may be able to download an entire book for a specific duration of time, like 3 weeks, or you may be able to download chapters in PDF to use for as long as you need.

OhioLINK Electronic Book Center – Over 180,000 e-books from various publishers like ABC-CLIO and Sage.

Proquest Ebook Central – Browse the e-books that Miami University Libraries’ has purchased on the ProQuest Ebook Central site. Note that most titles on this platform are single-user titles.

Oxford Scholarship Online – Collection of more than 5,000 e-books from Oxford University Press in the humanities and social sciences.

Safari Books Online – A collection of electronic books in computer science, information technology, and related fields from O’Reilly and Associates and Pearson Technology Associates

Springer E-books – E-books in computer science, engineering, medicine & public health, mathematics, and life sciences.

 

National Emergency Library Announced

Many publishers and vendors are offering free access to what otherwise would require subscriptions. One big addition is the Internet Archive’s “National Emergency Library”, announced on March 24, 2020. They are suspending the waitlists for 1.4 million digitized books until June 30, 2020 or later depending on when the national emergency is over. Here are more details:

“This library brings together all the books from Phillips Academy Andover and Marygrove College, and much of Trent University’s collections, along with over a million other books donated from other libraries to readers worldwide that are locked out of their libraries.”

The Internet Archive already had over 20 million e-books and another million newer e-books that require a free account in order to access. A 501 (c)(3) non-profit, the Internet Archive also hosts images, streaming audio & video, software programs and 330 billion webpages!

Hoonuit for professional development

If you are looking to do some professional development, don’t forget Miami University’s subscription to Hoonuit, (formerly Atomic Learning). It offers access to a complete training library of over 50,000 short, step-by-step video training tutorials on over 205 of the most common applications. Here are some of the topics in Hoonuit:

• Instructional Video Best Practices
• Accessible Online Courses
• Instructional Technology Strategies for Students with Autism
• PowerPoint & Google Forms
• Professional Etiquette
• Organization Tips for Teachers
• Using Data to Improve Learning
• Developing Self-Aware Students
• Scaffolding for English Learners

The area public libraries also have online learning resources. If you have a library card with the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County or Lane Public Library, you can access their training databases remotely.

Did you know? Lots of e-books available

The Miami University Libraries is purchasing more and more e-books from many different companies. The list is almost too long to mention here. You’re better off just finding them in our online catalog. After you run a search, just limit to “Electronic Resources” using the limiter option on the left side of the screen. (see screenshot at left).  You can sometimes download the entire book (for a short period of time), just a chapter or two. It’s the same content as the print version and many of them will have a “cite” tool for your Works Cited or References page. If you run into problems or have questions about accessing an e-book, don’t hesitate to contact us!