How borrowing at the library works
Chances are that you are familiar with the basic idea behind a library: it is a place where you may borrow various items (oftentimes books and media, like DVDs) for a certain period of time, and without paying a fee for the use of those items (unless they are returned late).
A university library works the same way, provided you have borrowing privileges as an active student, faculty member, staff member, or alumna/alumnus. In order to borrow, or check out, an item from the library, you will always need to have your physical Marshall ID card with you to confirm your identity and borrowing privileges.
What can I borrow from the library?
You may not know that the library has more to check out than just books. The Drinko Library has not only a sizeable collection of DVDs and CDs, but also has certain types of equipment available for you to borrow. Equipment available for check-out includes:
Borrowing periods and privileges do vary, so check the Circulation Services page below for details.
To locate items in our collection, you can search our library's catalog using the "catalog" tool to the right.
If you have any questions about using the library, you can always ask a librarian. One easy way to do that is using the Library Chat box just below, which allows you to communicate with one of our research librarians in real-time. Librarians are very helpful not only with questions about how to use the library, but also with questions about how to conduct research (where to find good sources, how to assess the reliability of sources, and so on).
Search Marshall Libraries' catalog
Use the box below to search for books, e-books, media, and journals in our collection.
What if the library doesn't have what I am looking for?
Our libraries are linked to a number of other academic libraries through two of our Information Delivery Services (IDS): EZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan (ILL). If you are trying to locate an item and our library does not have it in its collection, these services allow you to get access to what other libraries have.
EZBorrow
If you have searched our catalog and you do not see the item you are looking for (or it is unavailable then), you might check EZBorrow to see if one of our many partner libraries (located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey) have it. Once you have located the item you are looking for, you can request that it be sent to you at either the Drinko Library's Circulation Desk or the South Charleston Graduate College Library. You will receive an e-mail telling you when the requested item is available for you to pick it up. Typically the item you request through EZBorrow will arrive within about five business days.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
If the book, article, or other resource you are looking for is not available in our collection or in that of our EZBorrow partner libraries, your next step is to make a request for that item through Interlibrary Loan (ILL), using a tool called ILLiad. Once you have registered for an ILLiad account, you will see that you can make requests for articles, books, DVDs, other videos, book chapters, conference papers, music recordings, and music scores. These requests generally take between one and five weeks to fulfill, so be sure to plan accordingly when you are doing research.
If you are interested in getting intensive, one-on-one assistance from one of our research librarians, you can set up consultation sessions with them using the first link below. Our librarians also specialize in certain subject areas, so it is often beneficial to talk to the library partner for the field of study you are working in. The bottom link below provides a list of each department's library partner with information about how to contact them.