What’s New

Welcome New Students!

Welcome to college and to OhioLINK!
OhioLINK is a group of 86 Ohio college and university libraries, and the State Library of Ohio, that work together to get you the information you need to be successful in school, whenever and wherever you need it. Because your library is a member of OhioLINK, you have FREE access to: 46 million books and other library materials, millions of electronic articles, 12,000 electronic journals, 140 databases, 25,000 e-books; thousands of images, videos and sounds, 12,000 theses and dissertations from Ohio students and more.

Six Ways OhioLINK Can Make Life Easier:

1. Download electronic articles instantly
   Get the articles you need for your paper or read entire journals, newspapers and magazines online, anytime. Choose from 140 research databases to find articles in a specific subject area, or try Quick Search @ OhioLINK to find articles from multiple sources easily. With more than 12,000 journals and millions of articles, odds are you'll find what you need.


2. Enhance projects with images, videos and sounds
   You don't need a passport to view works of art from museums around the globe, a DVD player to watch educational films and documentaries, or a time machine to view historical documents. With a quick visit to OhioLINK's Digital Media Center, you can find thousands of electronic images, sounds and videos to use in papers, presentations or to enhance your learning.


3. Paper panic? Try a Quick Search
   Find articles for class or resources for your paper quickly. Quick Search @ OhioLINK saves time by searching multiple resources simultaneously. It provides reliable, library-quality results that are appropriate for class and research.


4. Find the perfect thesis or dissertation topic
   Get topic ideas, see what peers have written in your discipline, or find a particular theses or dissertation via the Electronic Theses & Dissertations Center. The ETD Center contains 12,000 theses and dissertations from students at participating Ohio colleges and universities.


5. Get the books you need in 2-3 days
   Can't find the book you need at your library? OhioLINK it! Use the OhioLINK Library Catalog to find and request library materials online and pick them up at any participating library you choose in two to three days. With more than 46 million books and library materials to choose from, you're likely to find what you need. Renew books online via your library's Web site and keep them for up to 15 weeks (unless another user has requested them).


6. Find answers anytime with e-books
   OhioLINK's growing collection of 25,000 e-books cover a wide variety of subjects and include encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference works (for tracking down a quick fact or illustration); scholarly books; and computer and technology titles (for in-depth, how-to books and technology tips).

We know the amount of information available can be overwhelming, but we're here to help. If you need help finding something, getting started with your research, or you have any questions, please chat with an OhioLINK librarian online or contact your library.

Library Catalog Update: Keyword Searching Fixed

The OhioLINK Library Catalog is available and work properly following a system upgrade on August 16. All search functionalities, including keyword searching are now working.

OhioLINK Adds Thousands of Scholarly E-Books, Opens E-Book Center

Thousands of new scholarly e-books, published by Springer, are now available to students, faculty and staff at OhioLINK member institutions. These are recent (2005-2007), high-quality scientific, technological and medical books. Students can use these books to do research anytime, anywhere. Faculty can use the books for research or as course materials. Faculty can assign particular readings and link to relevant chapters or sections from course pages or Web sites. New Springer e-books will be added regularly. These recent additions bring the total number of e-books offered by OhioLINK to 25,000.

These new e-books are available as part of the new Electronic Book Center. Similar in concept to the Electronic Journal Center, the E-Book Center will allow you to find and utilize e-books from multiple publishers using one common interface. Currently, the E-Book Center contains 5,000 e-books from Oxford University Press and Springer. Additional e-books and e-book collections will be added, including the Electronic Reference Books collection. Links to OhioLINK's other e-book collections are available from the E-Book Center's home page.

Books in the E-Book Center will also be accessible from the OhioLINK Library Catalog. Records are being added for the new e-books.

Students and Faculty Gain Access to Theological Collections

Ohio students, faculty and staff now have access to one of the top ten largest theological collections in the United States from the Theological Consortium of Greater Columbus (TCGC). This access is possible because TCGC members, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Pontifical College Josephinum and Trinity Lutheran Seminary, have recently joined OhioLINK. These additions bring the total number of OhioLINK members to 87, including 16 public/research universities, 23 community/technical colleges, 47 private colleges and the State Library of Ohio.

"Having access to these specialized collections will be a benefit to students and faculty of many disciplines here at Ohio State, including art, history, literature, music, religious studies and sociology." Joe Branin, Director of the Ohio State University Libraries, said.

Ohio students, faculty and staff can now browse 360,000 theological books and other library materials, borrow items for up to 15 weeks, and pick up those requested items in just 2-3 days at a participating library. In addition, students, faculty and staff at Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Pontifical College Josephinum and Trinity Lutheran Seminary will gain access to the more than 46 million books and other library materials owned by OhioLINK member libraries and two Ohio public library systems.

"Being a part of OhioLINK allows us to support the research needs of our students and faculty in ways that we weren't able to do before," Monsignor Paul Langsfeld, Rector/President, Pontifical College Josephinum, said. "OhioLINK provides more library resources than any single library, especially a small library, could ever afford individually."

See the news release for more details.