Library Questions?

Here is a list of resources that can help you format your citations: Citing Print & Electronic Resources. We also have a guide for Research Paper Style Basics (APA & MLA). If you need help, you can talk to a librarian at the Research Services Desk. We keep a number of style manuals there, including one that is specifically about citing government publications.

The public is welcome to look at our books in the library. To check out books, consider becoming a Friend of the Hannon Library.

Yes. You will need a photo ID and then you can request a public account at the Learning Commons Desk. The access lasts for 2 hours for one day. You can print by selecting "print" and then paying for your print job at the Circulation Desk.  (Cash only.)

Typically SOU students can check out a book for 3-weeks and then it will be automatically renewed up to 60 days. Summit books check out for 6 weeks. To learn more, visit our page on Borrowing Policies.

There are directions and contact information for reserving rooms on the Library Room Scheduling Policy and Descriptions page.

1. Go into the Hannon Library Search.
2. Select "Title" from the first dropdown.
3. Enter the journal title in the search box.
4. Select material type "Journals."
5. Hit search.
6. If we have it, it should be listed with either "Online access" for online journals or "Available at" and the call number for physical/print journals.
7. Click on the title to see what years are covered. "View it" displays options for reading the journal online. "Get it" displays any physical print issues we have.
8. If the only listing you see says "Check holdings," then that means it's in our consortium, but we don't have access to it here. In that case you'll need to request your article via Interlibrary Loan. Normally there should be a direct link from Hannon Library Search called "Request an article PDF." It will take 1-7 business days and you will receive it electronically when it arrives.

For books that we don't have here, SOU students, faculty, and staff can request these books though Summit. First, go to Hannon Library Search and find the book. Then click on "Check Holdings" that book. You'll need to be signed in to make a request. Click on the "Request Summit Copy" link. A form will open in the tab, click on the "Request" link in the bottom right. Note that we can't request e-books through Summit. If you only need a chapter, you can use the "Request a chapter PDF" link.

For more information, see this webpage on Summit Borrowing.

• Use the Advanced Search page which provides more search options
• Use quotation marks when you're searching for a phrase and want the search terms to stay together (example: "mountain lion")
• If you're looking for either of two words, use "OR" in all caps (example: "mountain lion" OR cougar)
• If you want to search multiple endings of a word use an asterisk at the end (example: volcan* retrieves volcan, volcano, volcanos, volcanoes, or volcanic)
• After you've run your search, look at the options (facets) on the left to see if there are helpful links for focusing your search

You can find more information about searching on this self-paced tutorial on Finding Books.

Generally, all current SOU students, faculty and staff have borrowing privileges at the Hannon Library. To learn more or to see a list of others with privileges, see Borrowing from the Library. Also, community members can borrow our books by becoming a Friend of the Hannon Library.

Yes, you may find one of these resources helpful:

• Internet Searching Tools
  • Provides links to search tools, metasearch tools, and subject directories
  • Ranks search tools
  • Provides links to information about searching more effectively
  • Non-commercial site for search tools
• Tips to Effective Internet Searching
• Evaluating Web Resources

Try looking at this self-paced tutorial on finding topics. If you need more assistance, try talking to the librarian at the Research Services Desk.

We generally don't purchase textbooks. However, we do have some textbooks on loan from the bookstore for the current term. To see if we have a particular textbook, see this Text Share List or ask at either the Research Services Desk or the Circulation Desk.

The Library of Congress Classification System is the system we use to classify our books according to subject area and to give them a call number so they have a particular location in the stacks. It uses a combination of letters and numbers and is used by most academic libraries. To learn more, see the Library of Congress Classification Outline or check out this guide on our Library Classification (Shelving) Systems. In our library, the As for books start on the second floor on the right, past the periodicals and videos, as you leave the rotunda stairs. Call numbers that start with J or higher will be on the third floor. To see more about where certain books would be located, see our map.

Interlibrary Loan is a way to request articles, books, and other items from other libraries that are not available locally or through Summit. To learn more, see our page on Interlibrary Loan Services.

You can find our hours at Library Hours.

We have three research guides for government publications, all of which can be found under the Research Guides dropdown list on the homepage. There's a guide for federal publications, Oregon state publications, and international publications. Many of our government publications are also available in Hannon Library Search. If you need more assistance, contact our Government Information/Instruction Librarian, Dotty Ormes at 541-552-6850 or ormesd@sou.edu.

The SuDoc Classification System is the way that the government publications are organized. You can learn more on this SUDOCS Classification guide.

Yes, you can find it here.

Please see our list of Library Fines and Charges (and scroll down to the section on Interlibrary Loan).

Yes, the library has wifi. When you try to access it, you'll see the Guest Access Request form (sample), which you'll need to submit. If you have a mobile phone with you without email, you may want to have it text the credentials. Otherwise you'll need to login to your email at one of the stand up stations so that you can get your credentials. If you have questions or problems getting set up, you can ask at the Learning Commons Desk.