News for Faculty: How to Get Books and Other Library Materials this Fall

As students and faculty gradually return to campus, the UC Davis Library has developed detailed plans for Fall Quarter that prioritize the safety of our campus community — both library users and employees — while doing everything we can to provide the most expansive access possible to the library’s collections and services.  

A hybrid model for a hybrid quarter

Continuing the hybrid model we launched in response to the pandemic earlier in 2020, the library will offer a wide range of options this fall, including: 

• Browsing and in-library use of all print books that are in Shields Library.  
• Online access to about half of UC Davis’s print collections through the HathiTrust Digital Library platform. For these books, we have added links in the library catalog that lead to the ebook in HathiTrust. 
• Online access to millions of books owned by other UC libraries, which are also now available to UC Davis faculty and students through HathiTrust (click Log In and select “University of California, Davis” for access).

• A shipping service (details below) for any book not available in HathiTrust. These books can also be checked out at the Circulation Desk or requested for pickup at a new self-service hold shelf. Please note that to comply with Fair Use of copyrighted work, the print versions of books available via HathiTrust cannot be checked out.

• Scanning of articles and book chapters, with the scanned PDF delivered to you by email.
• Blaisdell Medical Library remains available to the Sacramento campus community via UC Davis Health badge access. Other users should request materials from Blaisdell via the shipping service.
• Digital course reserves: The library is partnering with the Equitable Access program in an effort to provide digital versions of materials needed for undergraduate instruction whenever possible. Learn how to request that course materials be linked directly from your course page in Canvas, including ebooks, journal articles, scanned chapters or books, streaming video, digital music and more. 
• The library also plans to install self-checkout machines in Shields Library as soon as possible. 

This hybrid model was preferred by an overwhelming majority of campus users who responded to our August 2020 survey as the best way to meet the needs of all members of the campus community — both those here in Davis/Sacramento and those continuing to work or study remotely — while the pandemic continues.

I could not have made my book deadline this fall without the expanded HathiTrust access and the page-and-ship service for physical books in Shields. The services have been essential for me, my colleagues, and my graduate students.   

—Kathryn Olmsted, Professor of History

Shipping service

The library launched a shipping service in June 2020. You can request print books and other materials you need through the library catalog and have them shipped to your off-campus address. When you are ready to return materials to the library, you may return them at Shields or Blaisdell, in library book-drops or email us to request a postage-paid shipping label.

While Carlson Health Sciences Library remains closed, please request Carlson books (and books from the Physical Sciences & Engineering collections currently housed at Carlson) via the shipping service. Users not based on the Sacramento campus should also request Blaisdell Medical Library materials via the shipping service.  

Please note that titles available digitally through HathiTrust are ineligible for this service. The library must strictly adhere to this requirement to comply with Fair Use of copyrighted work under our agreement with HathiTrust.  

New books

Over the summer the library resumed ordering and receiving new books and journals, and most book vendors are able to fulfill orders at this point. Please note that new materials, including user-requested books, may be processed more slowly than usual as we implement book-quarantine protocols designed to protect the safety of library users and employees. All newly acquired books are eligible for checkout and shipping, as they are not reflected in our HathiTrust access. 

Streaming video

The library will typically acquire video content in a streaming format whenever possible so it can be used 24/7 by multiple users at the same time. While an increasing amount of streaming video content is available for licensing to campuses, some titles may be unavailable in a streaming format, or may only be available in consumer markets. For example, content made for television or for consumer streaming platforms (e.g., Hulu, Netflix) is often only available in consumer markets and cannot be acquired by the library for broader distribution. In these cases, the library may acquire the DVDs (if possible) and digitize the content for streaming only to students enrolled in the appropriate course.  

Course reserves and support of instruction

The library is working closely with the campus bookstore to ensure digital access to books required for courses. For any books, videos, and other materials needed for undergraduate instruction that are not available through the Equitable Access Program, the library will provide digital access whenever possible, either for all campus users or for students registered for the appropriate course via Canvas. While course reserves can be requested at any time, please let the Library know what materials are needed for courses you are teaching at least three weeks prior to the start of each quarter in order to have materials ready for your students on the first day of class.  

Interlibrary loan

Interlibrary loan for journal articles remains available seven days a week. Interlibrary loan for books remains largely unavailable — including those owned by other UC campuses or held at the UC’s regional library storage facilities — because it depends on the operational status of other institutions. When the library receives requests, we borrow or buy the requested materials as possible, or let the user know if we cannot get the material right now. 

Health and safety protocols

The library has protocols in place to quarantine materials for an appropriate period of time between physical contact by employees or users unless we can confirm that PPE (gloves and face covering) were used. Concerned users may opt to have materials shipped to their off-campus address and quarantine materials for a period of time they deem appropriate.