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International Distance Learners

Overview

UNI offers graduate and undergraduate degrees via distance learning, primarily to Iowa students. Some programs may require on-campus attendance; some are offered entirely at a distance. Many programs utilize the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) and online instruction. Delivery of ICN programs is limited to the state of Iowa.

Rod Library is committed to giving UNI distance learners access to the Library's print and electronic collections in a timely manner so that students can successfully complete course assignments and university degrees without having to travel to campus.

Library services for distance learners include a variety of extra document delivery services. Rod Library staff can locate, check out, and send in-house books. Rod Library staff can also locate, photocopy, scan, and e-mail in-house articles and will attempt to interlibrary loan articles not owned by Rod Library. All enrolled students have remote access to Rod Library's licensed databases many of which contain some full text information (e.g., full text of articles, full text statistical information, or photographs). UNI distance learners also can receive help with getting started in their research. Students may schedule a library consultation on specific research topics.

To qualify for Rod Library's distance library services you have to be currently enrolled and taking at least one class (web-based, off-campus, or Iowa Communications Network - ICN) through the Division of Continuing Education and Special Programs. You also can be classified as a Guided Independent Study (GIS) student through the Continuing Education office to receive these services.

Electronic resources and databases

All enrolled UNI students have access to Rod Library's licensed databases and electronic resources. Many of the library's databases contain full text information.

In order to access web-accessible databases from your off-campus location, you need to go to the Rod Library web pages.

There are many electronic indexes and databases that will find articles on specific topics and many of the articles are available full text in the resources. Use Panther Prowler to search several databases at one time for information on a topic Panther Prowler User Guide. If the article is not available in full text from the library database, click on the button to possibly find the full text in another licensed library resource.

Search individual databases when you need more power and precision in your searching. The Databases A-Z list is an alphabetical list of library databases.

Many of the databases contain citations to articles on various topics. Some of the databases contain the full-text to some articles found within the database (i.e., Academic OneFile, General Business File, Education Full Text, ERIC, ABI/INFORM Global, International Index to Music Periodicals, Project Muse, Applied Science & Technology Full Text, Library Literature Full Text, ScienceDirect, Newsbank, and netLibrary).

See the section on How to Access Electronic Resources From Off-Campus for additional information.

Reference assistance

Rod Library provides informational and research help to students who are working on assignments and research. This assistance can range from verifying a bibliographic citation, to answering factual questions, or to suggesting a strategies you can use to do research for a paper or project.

Send reference questions by clicking on the Contact/Request link located in the left hand column under the Online Forms heading.

See the section on Research Tips for numerous links to online guides and tutorials related to research and specific Rod Library resources.

Articles and books

Staff at Rod Library will find and send articles to international students. For your convenience, we have an online article request form.

Articles (in-house): Articles are photocopied, scanned, and e-mailed to the student. There are 10 cents per photocopy charges that will be applied to the student's university bill.

Articles (interlibrary loan): Staff at Rod Library will attempt to obtain articles not owned by Rod Library and then will send them electronically to the student.

If Rod Library is charged a fee to obtain the article, the costs are applied to the student's university bill.

Books: In-house books (books owned by Rod Library) are not checked out to international distance learners. We recommend that you use your local partner library for access to print books. The Rod Library subscribes to a collection of electronic books on a variety of topics which you may access. To enter the NetLibrary system, go to the Databases A-Z link on the library home page.

Distance education copying restrictions: When making photocopies or obtaining articles through interlibrary loan, Rod Library follows U.S. Copyright Law.