Quick OhioLINK Reference Sheet
OhioLINK is a statewide online library. It includes all the books from every college and university in Ohio, over 48 million books! Books can be requested over an Internet connection and delivered free of charge to the Jefferson County Campus Library office, Valley Center or your library drop-off site within 3-4 days. OhioLINK also has online periodical articles from over 150 electronic databases that can be downloaded free of charge.
Any EGCC student with a library barcode number can borrow books or download articles. Non-students who live in Jefferson County can use it too, but must leave a credit card # on file to borrow books.
Using OhioLINK will give you access to the same library resources that a student at Ohio State or Ohio University has!
OhioLINK is available 24/7. Visit OhioLINK at www.ohiolink.edu anywhere you have an Internet connection, either on or off campus.
How?
- To access OhioLINK directly, type www.ohiolink.edu into the address line of your browser.
- TO FIND BOOKS (THINK CATALOG):
- On the homepage, click on “OhioLINK Library Catalog”
- Set your search for “Keywords,” “Author,” “Title,” or “Subject Heading.”
- Use keyword searching to start, because subject headings must exactly match the descriptive terms assigned by librarians.
- Enter your search term into the box and click on “Search” or use the enter key.
- A list of titles will appear. Click on any blue hyperlinked title that interests you. It is best to examine the record before you request a title to ensure the title fits your needs.
- The record for that book will appear.
- Use the navigation buttons or arrow keys to return to the list, browse, or go back to the OhioLINK homepage.
- TO ORDER BOOKS:
- If the title is what you want, click on the green “Request” button.
- Select your school or institution: choose “Eastern Gateway CC” then click “Submit above information.”
- Enter your name and barcode number at the next screen. Choose the appropriate site for your pick-up location. Then click the green “Submit” button.
- Mark “Cancel if not filled by” if you choose.
- The last screen will inform you if your request is successful. If the request does not go through, it will tell you the reason.
- TO CHECK IF YOUR BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED:
- Due to the large number of library users (over 2000 students), we ask that you not call or ask if your books have arrived in the library or your drop-off site. Your record is easily viewed online & will tell you when your books have been delivered to JCC Library or your self-selected drop-off site.
- Once you know your books are here, please come to the library for pickup.
- Check your own record online at www.egcc.edu
- Click on “Library” under “Quick Links” to the lower right side of the page.
- Click on “Check your record” in the left navigation panel.
- Enter your name and barcode, just as you did when you requested the book. Click on “Submit.”
- Click on “Requests (holds)”
- The title(s) you have requested will have a status of “RECEIVED” when the book is ready for pickup.
- You can use this screen to track your request. The status may also say, “REQUESTED,” “IN TRANSIT,” or “CANCELLED.” Items may be cancelled by the lending library if they are missing or damaged.
- Once your book is received, come to the library and tell us, “My books are here.” You will need your library barcode to check out your book(s).
- TO FIND MAGAZINE & JOURNAL ARTICLES (THINK DATABASES):
- On the homepage, underneath “Library Databases (articles and more)” ; click on “By Name or Title.”
- B. Some databases index only ONE type of periodical (For example, MEDLINE indexes only medical journals & medical information). Other databases index ALL types of periodicals, not those just in one subject area. (Examples are ACADEMIC SEARCH COMPLETE and MASTERFILE PREMIER.)
- C. Select “Academic Search Complete” for articles written at a college reading level. College instructors may require that you use articles written at this level. ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR. Select “MasterFILE Premier” for articles written for the general public. Both of these indexes include all subject types.
- Type your search term in the box. The default search mode is a phrase search.
- Notice there are two areas underneath the search box, “Search modes” and “Limit your results.”
- Under “Search modes” decide if you want to search by “Exact phrase,” “Find all my search terms,” “Find any of my search terms,” or “SmartText Searching.” Exact phrase searching will give you the smallest number of results, and usually, the most precise results.
- To obtain the FULL TEXT of an article, mark the box next to “Full Text” under “Limit your results.” Mark any other limiters you wish to use in this area. Notice that articles can be limited BY DATE, which is especially useful when you need current information.
- Once the search is constructed as you wish, click on “Search” to see magazine citations about your topic.
- Examine your results. If results are NOT satisfactory, you may “Refine your results” using the choices in the left navigation panel.
- Select the article title you wish to view by clicking on the hyperlinked blue title words.
- If you have marked full text, you may have two options for viewing the article; sometimes only one is available.
- HTML full text: the computer file for the article will appear and can be immediately printed from your workstation
- PDF full text: a photographic image file of the article will appear. This is available from a button to the left of the citation. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your PC to view it.
- After selecting one of the formats and retrieving the article, PRINT by clicking on the print command in your browser, or follow the printing instructions in the database.
- To the right of the database citation you will see several buttons. Of particular interest is the “Cite” button. Click on this button to view a computer-generated list of FORMATTED CITATIONS needed to prepare research papers. Choose the one that suits the required format of your paper. Be very careful to verify these citations, since the software is not always reliable.
- PLAGIARISM is copying another person’s writing or ideas without giving them credit. It is stealing; it is cheating. Always give credit when you copy words or ideas. If you plagiarize and are caught, you can automatically fail your course or be suspended from college.
- SEARCH MULTIPLE DATABASES by clearing the search box and then clicking on the “Choose Databases” command located above the search box. Mark the boxes next to the databases you wish to search. Then click the “OK” button at either the top or the bottom of the page. Construct your search as you did when searching only one database.
