Find Books
To locate books, videos, or journal titles at GSU or throughout the state, start with I-Share, also known as IO. This electronic catalog shows the holdings for a group of 65 Illinois libraries that have agreed to share resources with each other. This means that as a GSU student, you are able to borrow materials from any of these institutions by requesting it while using IO or by visiting the library and using your GSU id. However, prior to your visit, please call that institution's library to be sure of hours and to verify that they hold the item you are trying to locate.
Be sure to review the I-Share Online Help guide before you start using IO. It contains instructions on how to search as well as hints to help you get the most out of IO. In addition, you may initiate interlibrary loans from your home computer using IO. The system will prompt you for your LOGIN (use your social security number omitting the hyphens) and your PIN (the last 4 digits of your social security number). If IO will not let you initiate a loan request, you are probably not in the library's database. To check your status within the database, please contact the circulation desk.
To access electronic books right from your computer, use netLibrary. If you create an account, you will be able to access thousands of eBooks on various subjects. To create a personal netLibrary account from off campus, click here first ( create a netLibrary account) before clicking on the netLibrary link. After the account is created, you can access netLibrary from any location. You may read an eBook for 15 minutes or check it out for two hours. By downloading and using the free netLibrary eBook Reader software, you will be able to read eBooks offline on a PC, without being actively connected to the Internet. In addition, the software allows you to search, annotate, copy/paste and zoom. Visit netLibrary's Help pages for instructions on creating an account, searching, downloading software, and reading an eBook.
WorldCat Search this electronic catalog for books, web resources, and other materials worldwide. Once you are in WorldCat, select the Help button in the middle of the screen for instruction on special search methods.
updated 8/11/06
