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Resources for Sakai

Faculty and instructors using Sakai @ UD or creating webpages can link to electronic journals, Internet resources, and databases available from the University of Delaware Library. This guide highlights those resources and other useful Library services and personnel.

Contents: DELCAT & WorldCat Local | Digital Images | Electronic Journals | Electronic Reserves | Interlibrary Loan | Film and Video Collection | Library Databases | Library Instruction | Link to Articles | Library Purchase | Off-campus Access to Library Databases and Journals | RefWorks | Student Multimedia Design Center | Research Guides | Subject Librarians | Virtual Reference Desk


  • DELCAT, the Library Catalog
    Find materials owned by the Library

    DELCAT provides information about the books, maps, videos, and other materials the Library owns. DELCAT also lists the magazines, journals, newspapers, and databases to which the Library subscribes.

  • WorldCat Local
    A new way to view the materials owned by the Library

    WorldCat Local offers a new and unique method for performing research at the University of Delaware. In addition to searching materials that are contained in DELCAT, WorldCat Local allows the user to search for journal articles as well as materials located at other libraries throughout the world in one simple search. Features include searching articles, linking directly to articles, accessing information on titles through Google Books, ordering materials via Interlibrary Loan, and creating a personal account that can contain book reviews and lists of your favorite titles.

  • Digital Images
    Add or link digital images to a course website.

    Images can be text, photographs, drawings or other objects. These Library webpages can help you find digital images:

Other resources:

  • AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive (Library database): more than 500,000 photos from 1844 to today from the Associated Press archive. Images can be used in course web pages, student projects, and other educational purposes.
  • ARTstor (Library database): digital library of images of art, architecture, painting, photography, sculpture, decorative arts and design, as well as archaeological and anthropological objects.
  • American Memory: digitized historical collections from the Library of Congress.
  • Document Exhibits: Delaware Public Archives text collections.
  • Google Image search
  • NYPL Digital: New York Public Library’s digital collection.
  • Electronic Journals & Articles in Full Text Databases
    Link electronic journals or articles to a course website.

    The Library licenses (subscribes to) thousands of electronic journals and newspapers. These subscriptions are listed in DELCAT, in WorldCat Local and on the Electronic Journals webpage.

  • Electronic Reserves
    Place reserve readings online.

    Place copies of articles for reserve on the Web and link to Reserves from course pages. The Electronic Reserves staff can scan paper copies of materials submitted by faculty into PDF format. The list of reserve readings can be submitted via the web. See the Course Reserves webpage for more information.

    The lists for both electronic and print reserves are available in DELCAT. Select "Search Course Reserves" from the DELCAT top banner.

  • Interlibrary Loan
    Borrow materials not found at UD.

    Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is the cooperative program that shares resources from library to library. ILL is available to UD faculty, students, and staff. If you need a journal article from a journal the Library doesn't have, fill out the ILL request form. The Library ILL office will contact a library that can send the article, preferably in electronic format. You will receive a notification that the article can be picked up from the Library server. If you need a book, microform, etc., the material will be sent to this Library for you to use and you will be notified when it arrives. Always check DELCAT before submitting an ILL request.

    The ILL form is available on the "Forms" page on the Library Web (under the top banner). "Get IT!" enhanced databases have a link to send an ILL request.

    The Library will not submit ILL requests for items the Library owns. If a book is checked out, use the Recall form, available on the "Forms" page.

  • Film & Video Collection
    Media resourses to use in classes and on the Web.

    Online resources from the Library's Film and Video Collection Department and the Internet can be incorporated into course resources. Streaming media is a particularly effective way to use media. The Library has many licensed databases appropiate for various subjects.

    The Film and Video Collection Department can assist in using these resources and in finding online materials that can be tapped freely and legally.
  • Library Databases
    Find articles and other information content for courses.

    The Library licenses (subscribes to) more than 230 databases. Many of these databases are indexes to the magazine and journal literature of a certain type or of a particular discipline. These indexes sometimes include conference proceedings, books, dissertations and other materials. Many of the indexes have been enhanced with the Library's service, Get It! Get It! provides a link to the full text article on a publisher Web site, the DELCAT information on the journal, and an Interlibrary Loan request form, all from the citation information in the database. Databases having Get It! links can be identified by the messagenext to the database name on the Library Databases pages. For information about Get It!, see the Get It! page and Get It! help page. Examples of Get It! databases:

About 70 of the Library licensed databases are "full text." Full text may mean the database is an electronic version of a publication or is a digital text collection. Full text can also mean databases which include the complete article for all or some of the articles indexed. Many of these databases use URLs that are "persistent" and remain the same indefinitely. Faculty can create links to those articles with persistent URLs (or PURLS) from their course Web site. Examples of full text databases:

  • Library Instruction
    Request a library session for your course.

    The Library offers many services to support faculty research and teaching activities, including specialized library sessions for your course. See Assistance to Faculty for more information.

  • Link to Articles
    Add articles to webpages.

    Most of the electronic journals that the Library licenses allow linking to articles or abstracts. In some cases, links can be made to a journal home page or a table of contents of an issue.

    Many of the full text databases use URLs that are "persistent" and remain the same indefinitely. Faculty can create links to those articles with persistent URLs (or PURLS) from their course Web site.

  • Library Purchase
    Suggest the Library acquire a print, electronic, or media resource.

    Use the Recommendation for Library Purchase form to suggest the purchase or licensing of library materials. When the form is completed, click on the Submit Request button at the bottom of the form, and the recommendation will be forwarded to the appropriate subject librarian.

  • Off-campus Access to Library Databases and Journals
    UD licensed resources can be accessed from off-campus

    Using UD restricted materials, such as electronic reserves, electronic journals, and library databases requires log-in to the UD Proxy server.

    Recommendation: login to the Proxy server and then navigate to Sakai and login.

  • RefWorks
    Online citation manager

    RefWorks is a Web-based bibliography and database manager that allows you to create your own personal database by importing references from text files or online databases. You can use these references in writing papers and automatically format the paper and the bibliography in your choice of bibliographic citation styles.

    The Library offers workshops on RefWorks.

  • Student Multimedia Design Center
    Create multimedia materials for your courses.

    The Student Multimedia Design Center provides equipment and services to help you incorporate multimedia in your courses and to support students in designing materials for course assignments.

    The Student Multimedia Design Center is also the location for microfilms, CDs, and DVDs in the library.

  • Research Guides
    Find information relating to disciplines and subjects.

    Browse the comprehensive research guides representing UD academic disciplines and other useful categories. Each research guide includes a list of subject-specific Library Databases, specialized research tips, and links to relevant web sites. Examples:

  • Subject Librarians
    Contact librarians for assistance in finding information.

    Not sure where to begin? Ask a librarian who is a subject specialist to review the appropriate print and electronic course content available in or through the library. Librarians can also provide instruction to classes on finding resources specific to course needs.

  • Virtual Reference Desk
    Use this online reference library for fast answers.

    The Virtual Reference Desk points to reference information online in these categories: Almanacs and Fast Facts, Biography, Business & Economics, Calculators and Converters, Calendars/Dates/Time, Careers and Job Search, Citation Styles, Consumer Information, Delaware, Dictionaries, Directories, Encyclopedias, Journal Abbreviations, Maps and Geography, Quotations, Statistics, Transportation, and University of Delaware. Examples:

    There are other electronic resources listed on the Reference & Statistics section on the Databases page.
This page is maintained by Meg Grotti, Coordinator, Library Instruction, Reference Department. Last modified: 06/01/12