Services For OU Faculty

Checking Out Materials: Faculty are allowed to check out books for a 15 week loan period. An Oakland University picture ID is required which must be validated at the Circulation Desk. Items may be renewed unless a hold has been placed on them by another patron. Items not returned in a timely manner may result in loss of library privileges. Oakland faculty also have borrowing privileges at all the other state supported universities in Michigan. More information about checking out materials.
Checking out materials (Borrowing Privileges) at other Libraries: Oakland faculty may borrow materials in person from all other state-supported university libraries in Michigan. You will need to show your Oakland ID. The borrower is responsible for returning the books to the lending library and for any fines or lost book charges. Online catalogs for other libraries around the state.
Computer Searching: The library subscribes to many online services, for example, FirstSearch (a collection of 60 individual databases), Infotrac, Web of Science, Lexis-Nexis, MathSciNet, Historical Abstracts, America: History and Life, Project Muse, JSTOR. These are available for use with no search charges and can be accessed directly via the Find Articles Page. If you are unfamiliar with the databases or have trouble using them, please call the Reference Desk (370-4426).

Copy Cards: All copying/printing on campus (including in the library) is now handled with the SpiritCash system (either on your OU SpiritCard/ID or using a guest card, which can be purchased at the library's SpiritCash station near the Circulation Desk). The University's conversion to Spiritcash for printing/coping has moved the copy card process and related financial responsibility to the ID Card Office, so the library is unable to sell/charge departmental copy cards at the circulation counter. Contact the administrative person in your department, and they can file the appropriate paperwork to get you (or recharge) a departmental copy card. A Departmental Spiritcash form must be completed, and can then be faxed to the ID Card office. Once the ID card is printed, it can be picked up at the ID Card office. Cards are usually printed within 24 hours of the request. Once you have received your card and need to add value to it, the same form would be used and faxed over to the ID Card Office. The value will be added to your card without having to make a personal trip to their office.
Copy Service: Oakland faculty and staff may order photocopies of articles from journals that Kresge Library owns.
Course Reserve Requests: Items that an entire class needs to use should be placed on Course Reserve here in the library. We host both traditional print and electronic reserves in the library. Please consult the Reserve Materials portion of the Circulation Services page for details on how to go about using Course Reserves.
ICPSR/iPoll: ICPSR stands for Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. It is the world's largest collection of digital social science data. These data can be used for secondary research, instructional activities, and to write articles, papers or theses. iPoll is part of the roper Center public opinion data and is a comprehensive database of over 500,000 questions and answers asked in the US since 1935.
Library Instruction: Everything you need to know about the Library Instruction Program at Kresge-- who's eligible, what the requirements are, etc.
Library Instruction Request Form: If your students will need to do library research to complete their class assignments, coinsider signing up for a library instruction session. A Kresge librarian will coordinate with you to determine which library resources would best suit your students' needs and then teach your students how to use those resources in an instructional session. Please make Library Instruction requests as far in advance as possible.
Library Liaisons and Department Library Coordinators: Library Liaisons: Librarians are assigned as liaisons to each department/academic unit on campus to promote communication between the library and its users. The liaisons inform faculty about the library's holdings and services and gather information about needs and concerns and work with the unit to develop the library collections. Your library liaison will be happy to discuss the library's holdings in your area of interest with you. Department/academic unit coordinators: Each academic department or unit has a coordinator who works closely with the library liaison to develop collections in that subject area. Requests for books and other materials should be forwarded to the departmental coordinator. In addition to assisting with developing the collections, Library liaisons can also help with: training in the use of print and electronic resources engaging in collection assessments and recommending materials for purchase creating research guides for subject disciplines Contact your library liaison if you'd like to discuss how the library's resources and services can assist you in teaching and research. The library views liaison exchanges as a way to promote the cooperation and mutual planning that is essential in building and maintaining a superior library. More information about Collection Development at Oakland University.
Requesting Materials for the Library: All requests for library materials should be submitted to the departmental library coordinator. Requests may be submitted in any form as long as it is clear what is to be ordered. Brochures clearly marked with desired titles, Choice cards or approval slips or written lists are all acceptable as long as the bibliographic information (author, title, place, publisher, date, price if known) is complete and accurate. You are encouraged to begin submitting requests in the summer. All requests should be in by March 15, preferably earlier. This is to allow for the processing of orders and to ensure that there is sufficient time before the end of the fiscal year for the items to be acquired. While not essential, it is very helpful to the library if you have checked the online catalog first and ascertained that OU does not own the items being requested. The Library participates in an approval plan that has been designed to support the curriculum. Books received "on approval" may be viewed in KL 103. Approval slips along with brochures, Choice cards and other advertisements are sent to the department library coordinators. These coordinators also receive monthly lists of 'titles on order' and 'titles received' for their unit. A New Book List of titles added to the collection is available on the Library Home Page.
Videos and DVDs at OU: A complete list of OU's videos can be found in the Voyager Online Catalog. Faculty may reserve videos for their classes by contacting the Circulation Department (ext. 4425) or email (circ@lists.oakland.edu). Videos may be picked up at the Circulation Desk. Students may not check out videos but may view them in the library Video Viewing Rooms.
Who has cited your research?: Check out our Guide to Cited Reference Searching. For assistance, please contact Kristine Condic at 370-2469 or email her at: salomon@oakland.edu.

Oakland University Kresge Library 2200 N Squirrel Rd Rochester, MI 48309 (248)370-4426

Created 12/12/06 by 11/21/02 by Robert Slater last updated 3/17/08 by Kris Condic