Welcome to our new website!
We've designed it to be more intuitive and easier to find what you need, but as with
any new site, you may need some help getting used to the new navigation.
Let's start on the home page.
Right at the top, we have a search bar.
The default search is Search USA, so you can type in your keywords, click Search and a
new tab will open up with your results in Search USA.
Other options for that top search bar are the Library Catalog and searching this new
library site's content.
Also on the homepage, we have a dynamic slider set up with our current announcements.
Each slide is clickable to take you to more information.
Underneath the slider is a Helpful Links section.
This provides you with a link to the Library Catalog, as well as back to other non-library
resources like the MyUSA student portal, the Writing Center, and Blackboard.
Next is our Ask a Librarian, or library chat service.
When this box is available, you can just type in your message to chat live with a USA library
staff member.
Here we have a list of the library's upcoming events, usually webinars.
And to the right of that, we have shortcuts to some interesting library content you might
not know about, including our citation management guide, our library tutorial videos, and a
guide about tech tools students may find useful.
Next, is a tabbed view of each campus.
Click on your campus to see typical library hours and a contact phone number.
Of course, anyone can always email library@usa.edu for library assistance.
At the very bottom of each page, you'll find links to the library's Facebook and
YouTube pages, as well as the library's email address again.
Our main menu will appear below the search bar on every page of the site.
The Resources menu points you toward the library's online resources, like databases, eBooks,
videos, and more.
Let's look at the database page.
It has shortcuts to featured databases along the top.
Just click on the logo to go right to that database.
Alternately, you can click on a topic to see the databases for that subject.
These include descriptions and sometimes videos for the databases listed.
You can search for a specific database here. and you can even change the way the databases
are listed by switching to Title here.
I also want to specifically call out the eBooks page.
At the top is a menu of all our eBook collections or platforms available through the library.
You can select one to explore, but note that each has unique content so an eBook may appear
in one collection but not another.
The videos at the bottom of the page can help you learn how to search all eBooks simultaneously
through Search USA.
We also have a resource flow of the USA required textbooks that are available as eBooks through
the library.
Just click on the cover to go to that eBook.
Note that Library copies of required textbooks are a back-up only and not a substitute for
purchasing textbooks.
The Videos and Interactive Tools page calls attention to all the video collections available
through the library, including our collection of course-related videos produced here at
USA.
This page is also where you can connect to the Visible Body Human Anatomy Atlas software,
either the browser or the app version.
The next menu item is Services.
This includes another point of access for our Ask a Librarian or library chat service,
as well as information on other services the library provides, sometimes for specific groups
of users like Alumni and faculty and staff.
The Interlibrary loan link takes you to information about the library's interlibrary loan service,
as well as a form that you can fill out to ask for a journal article, book chapter or
other resource that is not held in our library's collection.
This online form does not replace the form you can access through Search USA, it is simply
a new, additional option for requesting.
The next menu item is Guides.
Here you can find a collection of guides from our librarians on a number of different topics.
Some are intended for a specific course, like anatomy, and some are how-to guides.
If you want to see the full list of guides, choose A to Z.
Webinars highlights the library's upcoming webinars or other library-sponsored events.
You can click on Upcoming to see what's on the schedule and register ahead of time.
If you missed a webinar, you can click on Archive to watch recordings of past webinars.
The next menu item is Renew Online.
The Renew Online link takes you to the Library Catalog where you can renew library materials
you have checked out from your campus library.
Finally, About Us includes a staff directory, links to the official library policies, and
other information.
The Staff Directory is a full listing of all the librarians and circulation managers here
to help you.
It is listed alphabetically, but you can use the filter on the left side here to narrow
by location to see only your library staff.
So that's the new library website in a nutshell!
If you have further questions, please email library@usa.edu.
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