Use GILFind or the "Library Catalog" link on the GSU Library's homepage to find books in the GSU Library and at University System of Georgia libraries.
GILFind includes books and materials from ALL of the GSU campuses: Atlanta, Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody, Newton, and Alpharetta. In order to place a request for an item at any of these locations, sign in with your Campus ID and password, and then click on "Request" in the catalog record to begin the process. (You can request contact-free pickup from lockers -- at the top of the stairs by the Library North entrance -- for books from all of these locations).
GILFind also lists other materials in the library - including microfilm, dissertations, movies, music and special collections.
GILFind now also lets you search all of the University System of Georgia library holdings at once. Just select "University System of Georgia" instead of "Georgia State University" in Simple Search, or in the "Search Scope" dropdown in Advanced Search.
Books in libraries are assigned one or more subject headings. These are standardized terms that ensure books on the same topic can be found even if the keywords are different, as with Istanbul and Constantinople.
You can search in GILFind or WorldCat—using subject terms.
When you find a good book, look at its subject terms in the catalog record. Follow these to find other items aboutthat topic. Or, combine the subject terms in a new search.
If you know that you are looking for books about a particular athlete or sport, you can try using that name or sport as a subject term, like this:
Adding "Vietnam" as a keyword will limit your search to items about Muhammad Ali (including films!) that mention "Vietnam" somewhere in the item's record -- could be in the title, in a summary or table of contents (if those are included), or as a subject term.
You can search for eBooks from all GSU library ebook databases in the GSU Library's GilFind catalog just as you would search for traditional print books. After you search, tweak your results to show only "full access online" and the "books" format to see only eBooks.
(Are you teaching? See a full description for embedding ebooks for course content).
Help! I've found an ebook in the library's catalog and I'm not sure how to download it!
Different providers (i.e. ProQuest, EBSCO, etc.) have different requirements. Check out our Ebooks research guide for information about how to read/download ebooks.
Start with our catalog at GILFind.
If GSU's library doesn't have what you need, you have, don't give up. There are several options to get the book you want:
GILFind will also let you search across all of the University System of Georgia Libraries - Select "University System of Georgia" instead of "Georgia State University" when searching in GILFind. You can check out books in person from any other University System of Georgia library with your Panthercard. You can also place a GIL Express request (click for information on starting a GIL Express request) to have a book from another USG school (or from another GSU campus) be sent to a GSU campus. (Please note that you cannot borrow ebooks from other USG Libraries, or from any other university libraries).
Emory - you can also borrow materials at Emory with your Panther Card. For current information about Emory University Libraries' print borrowing availability, consult their library directly.
ARCHE - you can also borrow books from several local private colleges. Click here for a list of ARCHE schools. You may want to contact the library in advance to get further information about borrowing privileges (what kind of ID is needed, how long you can check out a book for, and so on). For current information about an ARCHE school's print borrowing availability, contact that school's library directly.
Fulton County Library System - GSU students & faculty may obtain library cards from the Fulton County Library System, then borrow materials. For current information about print checkouts from Fulton County Library branches, consult the Fulton County Library System site directly.
Use Interlibrary Loan to request books you find in WorldCat (below)
(or any other library catalog):
Still stuck? Ask a librarian for help.
