You may be wondering, "How can I access the incredible resources made available to me through TMU even after I graduate?"
As an alumnus/alumna of The Master’s University, you have perpetual access to the Powell Library and may check out up to five items at a time. You will need to acquire a new Alumni Library ID card by contacting the circulation manager for an appointment: libcircdesk@masters.edu. There is no charge for your first Alumni Library ID card, however, there is a replacement fee for lost cards.
The bad news is the Robert L. Powell Library is unable to provide alumni with off-campus remote access to the library's electronic resources.
The good news is there are alternatives available to you, especially those of you residing in the United States.
READ on . . .
TMU Powell Library Discovery Catalog
No matter where you are in the world, you can always search the TMU Powell Library Discovery Catalog; you just can’t connect to the eResources after graduation (the additional costs for alumni access is prohibitive). Our Discovery catalog simultaneously searches many of our periodical indexes including Academic Search, Business Source, Communication & Mass Media, ProQuest and ATLA Religion. If you are in the U.S., any books or articles you find can be ordered through your local Public Library’s InterLibrary Loan Service. Outside of the U.S.A. is another matter. See the "International Access" tab above for more information. Also, feel free to contact Miss T. for assistance.
As long as you live in the U.S.A, you can pretty much find and get anything you want ...
InterLibrary Loan Services
... that’s what the InterLibrary Loan (ILL) system was created for. InterLibrary Loan is a voluntary system of sharing materials between libraries. ILL provides access to items not currently available in a library’s collection or not available in full-text through its online databases. While getting digital copies of articles and selected pages from books is possible from the U.S. to another country and vice versa, getting whole books through ILL "across the pond" is not. Another caveat is that many libraries do charge a fee for ILL services. It is not uncommon for a library to charge a minimum $10.00 non-refundable fee per item to cover the costs of the processing and postage. If the lending library has additional fees, those charges usually will be added to the overall cost of processing the request.
Local Public Libraries
Many public libraries in the U.S. provide substantial online resources. Although, depending on their respective communities, you may find Academic Search or some other comparable scholarly indexing tool, most of the full-text academic resources offered by public libraries tend to be directed toward an upper division high school/lower division undergraduate audience like Academic OneFile and InfoTrac. You will rarely find graduate level resources or theological indexing tools in public libraries, thus making InterLibrary Loan a very valuable commodity! BTW, the Los Angeles Public Library has ATLA Religion with Serials as does the New York Public Library. See this "Public Library Database Comparison" chart for databases found in the Santa Clarita Public Library, Los Angeles County Library, Los Angeles Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library.
Statewide Access -- Many city and county public libraries allow any person who lives, works, attends school or pays property taxes in the state to receive a free library card giving him/her access to their respective online databases, eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, music and online educational classes. Many states even allow their residents to access a collection of databases regardless of what library card they have and some don't even require a library card--just an IP address within the state. Some examples are below and a more complete listing can be found on the Statewide Access page above:
WorldCat.org
Anyone can use WorldCat, which as the name implies, is a world catalog. It contains the library catalogs of thousands of libraries worldwide. The Powell Library Discovery catalog is produced by the same company that produces WorldCat (OCLC) and therefore, simultaneously searches those same catalogs. However, the only full-text capabilities are those open access resources that might be cataloged in one or another of the libraries therein. Never-the-less, your public library will be able to get your needed books and/or articles via InterLibrary Loan.
University Libraries
Whether you are in the US or another country, you may have the option of using local university libraries. Many of them allow walk-in use of their libraries. Some of them allow local residents to purchase a library card, which often provides circulation privileges. However, licensing agreements may prohibit access to their full-text resources.
ATLA Religion
In addition to the Los Angeles Public Library and the New York Public Library offering ATLA Religion for their library card holders, The American Theological Library Association, which produces the ATLA Religion and ATLA Religion with Serials databases, offers subscriptions to individuals as well as clergy, congregations and churches on the EBSCOhost research interface. Subscriptions are handled directly through EBSCO, including orders, payments, licenses, and account set-up/logins. If you are interested in subscribing, send an e-mail to products@atla.com along with your name, title, e-mail, and phone number and ATLA will pass it along to EBSCO.
Internet Archive's Open Library
Open Library by Internet Archive provides free access to millions of digitized books, movies, software, music and more. The Internet Archive and participating libraries, including The Master's University Robert L. Powell Library 😁, have contributed books, movies, music, etc. from their collections to be digitized and made available for loan from anywhere in the world AND it's FREE. These books are available in BookReader format, and usually in PDF and ePub formats. You can choose which format you prefer as you complete the borrowing process. All you need to do is sign up for an Open Library Account. Did I mention -- it's FREE!
Open Access
Another option is to use open access Web sites and databases. DOAB and DOAJ are good examples of peer reviewed open access resources. EThOS and PQDT Open are two databases that provide open access to theses and dissertations. You can find these and more peer reviewed open access Web sites and databases through the Powell Library Web site: select Find Databases, then from All Database Types, select Open Access. If you want to limit this even further by subject then use the All Subjects drop down menu as well. Many of the peer reviewed open access resources support the hard sciences, e.g. BioMed Central, BioOne, PeerJ, and ScienceDirect. You can also find some links to Open Access eBooks (including theses & dissertations) on the eBooks page above.
Work smarter, not harder. Long before all else fails, email Miss T. jtillman@masters.edu, TMU's Reference Librarian and Institutional Copyright Specialist. She is blessed to be able to assist your research needs.
Last updated November 2022.
Internet Archive's Open Library
Open Library by Internet Archive provides free access to millions of digitized books, movies, software, music and more. The Internet Archive and participating libraries including the TMU Robert L. Powell Library 😀, have contributed books, movies, music, etc. from their collections to be digitized and made available for loan from anywhere in the world AND it's FREE! These books are available in BookReader format and usually in PDF and ePub formats. You can choose which format you prefer as you complete the borrowing process. All you need to do is sign up for an Open Library Account. Did I mention -- it's free!
Open Access
Another option is to use open access Web sites and databases. DOAB and DOAJ are good examples of peer reviewed open access resources. EThOS and PQDT Open are two databases that provide open access to theses and dissertations. You can find these and more peer reviewed open access Web sites and databases through the Powell Library Web site: select Find Databases, then from All Database Types, select Open Access. If you want to limit this even further by subject then use the All Subjects drop down menu as well. Many of the peer reviewed open access resources support the hard sciences, e.g. BioMed Central, BioOne, PeerJ, and ScienceDirect. You can also find some links to Open Access eBooks (including theses & dissertations) on the eBooks page above.
TMU Powell Library Discovery Catalog
No matter where you are in the world, you can always search the TMU Powell Library Discovery Catalog; you just can’t connect to the eResources after graduation (the additional costs for alumni access is prohibitive). Our Discovery catalog simultaneously searches many of our periodical indexes including Academic Search, ProQuest and ATLA Religion. If you are in the U.S., any books or articles you find can be ordered through your local Public Library’s InterLibrary Loan Service. Outside of the U.S.A. is another matter. Contact Miss T. as she may be able to use Controlled Digital Lending to provide you with temporary access to the Powell Library's physical books. See International Access above for more details on Controlled Digital Lending.
WorldCat.org
Also, you can use WorldCat, which as the name implies, is a world catalog. It contains the library catalogs of thousands of libraries worldwide. The Powell Library Discovery catalog is produced by the same company that produces WorldCat (OCLC) and therefore, simultaneously searches those same catalogs. However, the only full-text capabilities are those open access resources that might be cataloged in one or another of the libraries therein. Non U.S. residents, contact Miss T. for an alternative to InterLibrary Loan.
University Libraries
Whether you are in the US or another country, you may have the option of using local university libraries. Many of them allow walk-in use of their libraries. Some of them allow local residents to purchase a library card, which often provides circulation privileges. However, licensing agreements may prohibit access to their full-text resources.
ATLA Religion
The American Theological Library Association, which produces the ATLA Religion and ATLA Religion with Serials databases, offers subscriptions to individuals as well as clergy, congregations and churches on the EBSCOhost research interface. Subscriptions are handled directly through EBSCO, including orders, payments, licenses, and account set-up/logins. If you are interested in subscribing, send an e-mail to products@atla.com along with your name, title, e-mail, and phone number and ATLA will pass it along to EBSCO.
Work smarter, not harder. Long before all else fails, email Miss T. jtillman@masters.edu, TMU's Reference Librarian and Institutional Copyright Specialist. She is blessed to be able to assist your research needs.
Last updated November 2022.
