Library Resources for Online Students

All students currently enrolled at Missouri State University are entitled to use the Missouri State University Libraries’ resources and services. Resources and services of particular value to online and off-campus students include:

Remote access to full-text databases and other resources

Borrowing privileges on site or at any MOBIUS library location

Course reserves

Reference and research assistance

Remote Access to Full-Text Databases and Other Resources

Electronic databases and other resources can be accessed by clicking on the Indexes and Databases link from the Missouri State University Libraries home page at http://library.missouristate.edu. In order to use these licensed databases, you will need a Missouri State ID and password.

Indexes and databases are listed By Subject, By Title, by Full Text, and by Most Popular and include magazine and journal indexes, many of which will have the full text of articles included in your search results. Also included are full-text reference databases such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as subject sources with topics in business, facts and statistics, literature, medicine, world news, etc.

Indexes which include many full-text articles are:

Academic OneFile and General OneFile – Two new powerful general full-text databases from Gale publishers on a wide range of subject areas. Its PowerSearch feature will show the subset databases of these huge files.

Academic Search Premier – EBSCOhost’s principal general periodical index with coverage in almost every academic discipline. There are also many other subject-specific indexes in EBSCOhost, all of which contain some full text.

Biography Reference Bank Select Edition – An excellent resource for current celebrities, authors, historical figures, and others with links to full-text articles.

Business and Company Resource Center – Offers coverage of major business events and trends, as well as company profiles, financial data, and industry statistics.

CQ Researcher - Provides analytical reporting on the most current and controversial issues of the day. It features lengthy (8-10 page) reports, including “Pro and Con” discussions, tables, and statistical data supporting sides of issues, and bibliographies of helpful resources used in preparing the reports.

LexisNexis Academic - Provides full text of newspapers, newswire, and broadcast sources and also covers U.S. and state case law, U.S. Code and law review articles, as well as company profiles and business forecasts.

Discovering Collection - Retrieves information in the areas of literature, history, biography, science, and social sciences.

If the article in your database does not have a PDF or HTML full-text link, then click the TOUR link to check for other databases or electronic journals that might have the full-text article. If you don’t find it, you can either go to another library to retrieve the article or complete an interlibrary loan request to acquire it. As distance learners you have special delivery privileges from interlibrary loan.

Electronic Journal Access

TDNet Journal Finder - TDNet is a searchable database for identifying electronic journals, magazines, and newspapers available at the Missouri State University Libraries through individual subscriptions or in full-text databases.

Borrowing Privileges On Site or at Any MOBIUS Library Location  

In order to check out books and other materials from the Missouri State University Libraries and other MOBIUS libraries, you will need a Missouri State University ID or Zip Card. If you don’t already have a Zip Card, the easiest way to get one is to go to the Zip Card office in the Plaster Student Union on campus. If you are unable to come to campus, we would suggest that you contact the Extended Campus Registration Services Office to obtain a non-photo ID. Call toll-free 877-678-2005 or 417-836-4126.

SWAN Online Catalog is used to access the Missouri State University Libraries’ holdings, as well as the holdings of all SWAN consortium and MOBIUS member libraries. With your Missouri State University ID (Zip Card), you can check out materials from any of these libraries either by ordering directly from the SWAN Online Catalog and picking up at a designated location, or by visiting any of the MOBIUS or SWAN libraries in person.

Course Reserves  

Your instructor may assign specific articles for you to read. S/he may mount these articles on the Blackboard site in Course Materials or s/he may ask that they be mounted on the libraries’ Course Reserves system. In this system, you can search by course or by instructor. When you locate the article you need, click on the link and you will be prompted for a password that is provided to you by your instructor. Be sure to type the password in exactly as given to you—it is case sensitive. You will also need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the articles on the libraries’ course reserves system.

Reference and Research Assistance  

The Reference and Government Information Department’s Ask a Librarian offers a chat service as well as an email reference service for answering questions of a factual nature.  Chat service times vary, and the department attempts to answer your email questions within 24 hours; however, response times may be longer on weekends and holidays. If you will state in your e-mail that you are a distance learning student and the course you are taking, it will indicate to the librarian to answer your question in as much detail as possible.

For your convenience, the Reference and Government Information Department also has an online library tutorial, a variety of user guides and handouts, as well as Subject Guides, to assist in your research.

Contact Information:

Reference and Government Information Department (417) 836-4535
Monday-Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight
Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 12:00 midnight
Hours may vary during summer, holidays, and semester breaks

Circulation Department (417) 836-4700

For Library hours call (417) 836-8383