Does this scenario sound all too familiar?:

Your class requires a $50 textbook. You go to the library to see if you might be able to get it there but they do not have it.

What should you do? The Library does not purchase textbooks due to the frequent changes in editions.

Luckily, we have some options for you:

1) Check with the circulation desk to see if the book was put on reserve for your class. Make sure you give the people at the desk the course name and/or instructor last name. Or you can check yourself by going to the Course Reserves lookup page.

2) Check if you are able to rent the textbook through the UAA Campus Bookstore or purchase a used copy.

3) Try one of the websites listed in our Textbook guide to rent, download, buy used, or try an open textbook.

Are you working on a paper or project and need to create a bibliography and manage your citations or references?  Use RefWorks, a bibliographic citation management tool.  It’s available under Research Help on the Library’s website.

On the RefWorks login page, you can find a link to our How to Guide for using RefWorks.  On this page you can find tutorials and information about downloading the write-n-cite  and the RefGrab-It tools that you will need to fully utilize all of RefWorks.

As always, if you have questions or need help Ask-a-Librarian.