Universal Access
If you're completing your program online or at one of Virginia Tech's extended campus locations, remember that you have all the resources of the University Libraries available to you. See the boxes below for specific information for extended campus and online students.
There are two main ways to get research help. For immediate assistance, especially outside of normal business hours, please use our Ask a Librarian service to chat with us or call us. If you need in-depth assistance with your research or don't need immediate help, just email me (contact information is to the left). Some questions can be answered easily over email, but for more in-depth questions, I'll be happy to set up a time to meet via Zoom.
Whether you are taking classes in Blacksburg or at an extended campus location, you'll probably need to access the library's electronic resources from off-campus. To do so, start at the library's homepage and navigate to the resource you need. At some point, you'll be asked to log in via VT's 2-factor authentication service. Once you've logged in, you should be able to access the resources just as if you were on campus. If you run into any trouble or are asked to pay for access, contact the library's reference desk via one of the ways listed as part of the library's Ask a Librarian service.
If Newman Library doesn't have an item that you need, we'll get it for you! This includes books, journal articles, theses/dissertations, and articles that the library owns only in print. To submit a request or check your account, visit our ILL login page. You can also request many items by checking for full text in a database and requesting the item if Virginia Tech does not have it. The first time you log in to the ILL system, you'll have to create an account; it's free and is necessary so that the system knows where to send your items. Check out the videos below for details on ILL.
Although you're located outside of Blacksburg, you do have access to materials physically located in the University Libraries, as well as to items from other libraries available through Interlibrary Loan. Students located outside of the New River Valley (Montgomery, Giles, and Pulaski counties) may use Interlibrary Loan to request items held by Virginia Tech or by other libraries. The item will be mailed to you and will come with a prepaid US Postal Service mailing label so that you can send the item back when its borrowing term is up. Check out the videos below for more details on registering for and using ILL.
