This page is intended to give you a broad overview of major library resources and services and get you going in the right direction for many questions.
Library Home Page - two search options available. See graphic below.
Get Help - answers to general library questions
Course Reserves - find material that your instructor has placed on reserve for a class
Library Hours - including Geisel, overnight study area, WongAvery Library, Special Collections & Archives, and Audrey's Cafe
Library Card - click Menu in upper right, then library card; lets you view your checked-out items and their due dates; renew or hold items; see if an item you requested has arrived; and more
Library Floor Plans - show the layout of the Geisel Library and WongAvery Library
Common Library Terms & Acronyms - brief definitions of library-related terminology
Searching on the Library website
There are two search boxes on the home page. The search box indicated by the purple arrow below includes a drop-down menu to search the library website, all UCSD websites, or for faculty/staff. The box indicated by the red arrow below searches for collections in the library, like books, journals, some articles, and course reserves.
Most of our electronic journals/books, databases, and electronic reserve materials are restricted so that only current UCSD faculty, staff, and students can use them off campus.
You will need to set up your computer to connect to these items using the VPN (Virtual Private Network). Be sure to select 2-Step Secured - Allthruucsd from the group drop-down menu while authenticating.
If you need help with the VPN, it's generally better to contact the ITS Service Desk instead of the Library.
Printing & Photocopying
Self-service printing and scanning are available in Geisel and the WongAvery Library.
For help with machines, ask at a library service desk.
Charges:
Scanning
Scanning in the Library is free.
Book scanners are available in Geisel 2nd and 1st floors (East and West wings) and WongAvery 1st floor. Flatbed scanners are available in Geisel East and West Commons.
Scanners for 35mm negatives and slides are available in the Digital Media Lab (DML).
See more info about printing/scanning.
Most Library computers require that you log in with an Active Directory account.
Computers are available in Geisel East and West Commons (main floor), Geisel West (1st floor), and the WongAvery Library (1st floor).
Publc computers are intended as short-term use and do not require log in. These are available in Geisel 2nd Floor and WongAvery 1st floor.
Be sure to save your files to a device or the cloud, or email them to yourself. Computers are rebooted every night and any data saved to the drive is erased.
Library computers have core software installed; some computers have additional specialty software available.
See more info about computing in the Library.
Librarians have Master's Degrees in Library and Information Science or a related field, and we're generally good at helping you find information - even if it's not within our own area of specialization.
Librarians and staff at the Research Assistance Desk on the main floor of Geisel can help you with research questions and direct you to a specialist if you need more assistance. There's also a general Geisel Front Desk just inside the Geisel entrance, and they can help with issues like directions, computers/printing, course reserves, and more.
You can also ask for help by chat/email/phone. Hours vary for these services and you may be connected to a librarian from outside UCSD after regular hours, but they can still get you pointed in the right direction or direct you to a UCSD librarian for follow-up.
If you need more in-depth help, you can contact the appropriate subject specialist directly.
Subject guides - created by UCSD librarians to help users focus on resources for specific areas of study, such as Urban Studies & Planning or Chemical Engineering
Course guides - more focused than subject guides, pointing to resources the subject librarian thinks will be most useful for a specific class
"DIY Learning" guides - more general and/or interdisciplinary than subject/course guides. These include things like how to find data/statistics, images, primary sources, newspapers, etc.
There are three library catalogs you should be aware of:
If you find an item that's not available at UCSD, you can usually request that we obtain it for you using Interlibrary Loan.
The Library is increasingly buying more books in electronic format. So, in addition to the catalogs above, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the Ebooks guide, which offers information about finding, using, printing, and downloading ebooks. Ebooks in other libraries' collections but not in UCSD's collection are not available for loan to UCSD.
Because urban studies is an interdisciplinary subject, books may be found in many different call number areas. The primary call number range for general urban studies and urban planning books is HT101-395, which is on the 6th floor of Geisel.
"Database" can mean different things. Here, it usually refers to resources that the library buys subscriptions to...that can be journal articles, ebooks, data sets, etc. Our databases are listed alphabetically so that you can easily find and access a specific database of interest (e.g. Urban Studies Abstracts or JSTOR).
There are also dropdown menus at the top of the alphabetical page to find databases by subject or by type. While this can be helpful, I generally suggest instead that you use the relevant subject guides to find recommended databases for a specific subject area.
