Help Desk and Student Resources

Library Access and Services for
Distance Learning 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 the online student and off-campus students include:

Remote access to electronic databases and many full text resources from the libraries

Borrowing privileges on site or at any MOBIUS library location

Course reserves

Reference and research assistance from reference librarians via an e-mail system called “Ask a Librarian”

Remote Access to Electronic 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 an Missouri State University Windows account 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 congressional news, business, literature, facts and statistics, world news, etc.

Indexes which include many full-text articles are:

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.

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.

Lexis-Nexis - 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. Congressional is an index to U.S. congressional reports, hearings, bills, and other publications from 1789 to the present. It also provides transcripts of recent testimony, voting records on members of Congress, legislative histories, and much more.

NewsBank - Host platform to full-text newspaper databases of current local, regional and national news, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community. Newspapers covered include the Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Springfield News-Leader, and several national newspapers, such as the Chicago Tribune.

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

While full-text databases are particularly useful to the distance learner, please be aware that some of the most useful articles for your research may not have the full text available. If the articles are not available full text, you can check to see if the library has the journal(s) in electronic format and if not, you will then need to go to a library to find them in print or do interlibrary loan to acquire the articles.

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 Center 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 CourseInfo site in Course Documents, 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 Missouri State University Libraries’ Reference and Government Information Department offers an electronic reference service, Ask a Librarian for answering questions of a factual nature. The department attempts to answer your question within 24 hours, but 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 Pathfinders, to assist in your research.

Contact Information:

Reference and Government Information Department (417) 836-4535
Monday-Thursday, 8 am-12 midnight
Friday, 8 am-6 pm
Saturday, 9 am-6 pm
Sunday, 12 noon -12 midnight
Hours may vary during summer, holidays, and semester breaks

Circulation Department (417) 836-4700

For Library hours call (417) 836-8383