Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find e-reserves?
How do I renew books online?
How do I get the full text of an article?
How do I get to the S-drive?
How do I make an interlibrary loan request?
How do I get a book/article that the library doesn't own?
What is my Pipeline username and password?
I don't know my email username/password. What do I do?
How do I print something in the library?
Do you have a color printer?
Where are the copy machines?
Can I get change for a $20/$10/$5 bill to make copies?
Is there a telephone that I can use?
I can't find my friend/professor/child. Can you page him/her for me?
What are the library hours?
Does the library have textbooks?
How do I find journal/magazine/newspaper articles?
How do I access the library databases from off-campus?
Do you have typewriters in the library?
Do I need something special to use my laptop in the library?
Can alumni/high school students/citizens use the library?
What is a TALC card and how do I get/use it?
How do I apply for a job (student worker) in the library?
How many books can I check out at one time?
Where can I find videos/DVDs?
Where are the theses and dissertations located?
Do you have tax forms in the library?
How do I find out which journals you have on a particular topic/subject?
How do I find a specific journal?

1. From the library homepage, go to Voyager, the online catalog. 
2. Click on Course Reserve.
3. Use the drop down menus to find the instructor's name or course listing, highlight it, and search.
4. From the resulting list, select the item you need and click on it.  Scroll to the bottom of the record. 
5. If it is a regular reserve you will need to have the call number to take to the Reserve Desk to check the item out. 
6. If it is an e-reserve you will simply click where it says "Click here to launch e-reserve." If the item is from one of our databases, it may ask you for a username and password before you can see the article. Use your MTSU email account username and password.  You may also need to have Adobe Acrobat on your computer to see certain items. This software is a free download from the Internet.

1. Go to the Voyager page at http://voyager.mtsu.edu or click on Voyager on the library homepage.
2. Click on the red box that says MY LIBRARY ACCOUNT at top of page.
3. Enter the barcode number from your ID card and your last name at the prompt screen, and click LOGIN. A list of items currently charged to your barcode will appear.
4. Click on the boxes next to the items you wish to renew, then click on the RENEW ITEMS box.
5. A new screen will appear with the due date for the items renewed.

Items may be renewed once by students and twice by faculty. Overdue books may not be renewed online.

When you are within an article database, follow the directions located in the full-text tutorial.

OR

When you have a citation and are not already searching in a database, or if the database does not conform to the examples in the tutorial, follow these steps to look for the text of an article.

1. Go to the Research Gateway and click on E-Journals on the top line of links. 
2. At the top of this page is an alphabet. Click on the first letter of the journal title (omit the initial articles, a, an, the) and scroll down the list to where the journal title would be. If it is there, follow the link to the database that indexes the volume you need. Be sure to pay attention to the dates listed.
3. If MTSU does not own an electronic version of the article, you will need to search for a print version.
4. Go to Voyager and do a Journal Title search (under Basic Search) for the title of the journal or source.
5. If we do have the journal here in the library, check to be sure that we have the volume that you need and where it is located in the library.  When you locate the journal, you may make copies in the copy center.
6. If you do not find the journal in Voyager, you will have to get it through Interlibrary Loan.
7. From the library home page, go to Online Library Services and click on the top line of the Interlibrary Loan entry. This will take you to Illiad, the online service for ordering books, etc. Follow the directions on this page to order the article or book from another library. This can take anywhere from a day or two to two weeks. You will be notified if there is a cost and when the item comes in. In some cases the article can be sent to you via email.

1. From the MTSU homepage, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. 
2. Just below the main box there is a row of gray links. Click on Information Technology. 
3. On that page, scroll down to Computer labs and the College of Business Computer lab and click. 
4. The S- drive is in the gold-colored column on the left. Or go straight to the Business Computer lab site at http://labnt1.bizlab.mtsu.edu/Lab/.

How do I get a book/article that the library doesn't own?

1. Interlibrary Loan requests are processed online. To find the form you will need to fill out, go to the library homepage at http://www.mtsu.edu/~library/. 
2. Click on Online Library Services and then on the first ILL link. 
3. If you are a first time user, you will have to set up an account by clicking on the “First time users” link and filling out the form. This process requires you to set up a username and password that you will use any time you access the Illiad database to request items or to check on the status of your request.
4. If you already have an account, simply enter your username and password and proceed to type in your request.

Also, look for an ILL or ILLiad button when working in an article database (tutorial).

It may take up to a couple of weeks to receive the materials you request.

Your Pipeline username is the same as your email username.  To find it, 

1. Go to the MTSU homepage.  
2. Click on Find People from the top of the page.
3. Enter your first and last name and click Query Directory.
4. Find your entry and look at the email address.  The part before @mtsu.edu is your Pipeline and email username.  
5. Your Pipeline password is the 4 digits that make up your birth month and day (e.g., January 20 is 0120).  

You may find your username and create a new password by following these steps:

1. Go to http://www.mtsu.edu/changepw . 
2. Enter your SS# and birthdate and click submit.
3. Read and accept the Computer and Network Acceptable Use policy.
4. Your email username will be displayed in red on a new screen.
5. Follow the directions to create a new password. Your password must be exactly 8 character long and contain at least 1 number and 2 letters.
6. It can take 15 minutes or longer for the new password to activate. 

When you print from a computer in the library, you must release it from the print system before you can retrieve it.

1. Select print on your computer.
2. Look at the name taped to the computer monitor and proceed to the closest print station.
3. Find your computer name on the screen at the print station and lightly tap it.
4. Tap the print jobs that you wish to print.  A check mark should appear next to them.
5. Press Print at the bottom right side of the screen. 
6. Press Confirm Printing at the bottom right side of the screen.

At this time, printing is free in the library.

Please note that the printers automatically delete jobs of 100 pages or more. If you must print a document this large, you will need to break it up into two or more jobs of 99 pages or less.  

No. There is a color printer in the BAS lab.

There are machines located on each floor of the library.  The first floor copy center is located in the hallway between the periodicals desk and the elevators. Machines are located on the upper floors in rooms at the entrance to the book stacks.  

Library workers cannot make change.  There is a change machine in the copy center that accepts $1 and $5 bills.

There is a pay phone in the vestibule between the outer doors and the entrance to the lobby.  There is not currently a campus phone in the library.

The Service Desk will page someone only in the case of a true emergency.  A missed appointment, lost connection, miscommunication, etc. does not count as an emergency.

Main Library

Special Collections

Maybe, but probably not.  The library does not have a policy to buy all of the textbooks used in classes on campus.  However, a Basic Search for the textbook Title in the Voyager catalog will tell you for sure.  Additionally, your professor may have placed textbooks on Course Reserve, which you can also search through Voyager. 

For a thorough explanation of this process, see this tutorial.

To use databases off campus, you must enter your email username and password when prompted.  See *I don't know my email username/password*  if you don't know your email username/password.

No.  There are typewriters at the LRC lab.

The Library has network connections for laptops throughout the public reading areas. Using a laptop and any 10BaseT network card, you can access the campus network and the Internet using any of the several hundred data jacks in the building.

You must configure your personal laptop to use the library network.

To use the wireless network, you must register with university Network Services. 

Anyone may walk in and use the materials in the library. 

Materials check-out privileges are as follow:

• Alumni may check out up to four books for a period of 4 weeks if they can present a picture ID and proof of graduation from MTSU (such as photocopy of diploma).  
• Community members may check out 2 books for 4 weeks if they can present a valid TN drivers license with a Rutherford County address. Community members must be 18 years old and out of high school to check out books.

TALC stands for Tennessee Academic Library Consortium.  Students, staff, and faculty of a Tennessee state school should go to their home library and request one.  Once you have the card, you can go to any other state college or university in Tennessee and borrow material.  The number of books you can borrow is set by the loaning library.  You are responsible for paying overdue fines or fees for lost items.

Contact library department supervisors to inquire about student job openings. You may obtain a list of supervisors from the Service Desk located in the lobby of the library.

• Undergraduate students may have 10 books checked out for a 4 week period.
• Graduate Students may have 30 books for a 4 week period.
• Staff may have 10 books for a 4 week period.
• Faculty may have 50 books for a 16 week period.
• Community borrowers (Rutherford county residents) may have 2 books for a 4 week period.

Videos/DVDs are located at the Instruction Media Resources Center (IMRC) located in the McWherter Learning Resources Center 101 (LRC 101).  Videos may be searched using the Voyager catalog.  Faculty and GTAs may check out videos/DVDs for 7 days to use for their classes. Students may view videos/DVDs in the IMRC.

They are located on the 4th floor in Special Collections. View hours here.

No, we do not have the printed forms here in the library.  However, we do have a link on our web site that will take you to the IRS web page where you can print copies of the various forms. The "taxes" link is on the Quick Reference page.

Print Subscriptions

Journals are located on the first floor and are arranged alphabetically, not by subject.  If you are looking for journals on a particular topic, you will need to use the Voyager catalog. 

One of the quickest ways to do this is to perform a Keyword search from the Basic Search screen with a Quick Limit set to Periodicals. 

Electronic Subscriptions

In addition to our journals in print, we also have many electronic journals.  You may search those by going to the Research Gateway and selecting E-Journals.  

• Search for a particular journal by selecting the first letter or the journal title (excluding a, an, the) from the alphabet above the links. Scroll through the list to find a journal.
• Or find journals on a particular subject by clicking anywhere on the alphabet. You may then select a subject area from the drop down menu. Journals are listed with links to the databases  in which they appear, along with the date ranges available. Launch a database to search within the journal.

1. Go to the Voyager catalog and select Basic Search.
2. Enter the name of the journal and choose Journal Title from the drop-down menu. Leave out initial articles (a, the, an).
3. Click Search.