Library Assistance/Ask a Librarian
During most library staffed hours a reference librarian is available on-call either through the “Ask a Librarian” box on the home page or in the building. For in-library assistance please ask at the circulation desk first. To schedule a one-on-one appointment to work with a librarian please email library@alliant.edu.
Alliant Library website at is your gateway to information and resources available to help with your research.
Use the Classic Catalog to search by title, author or subject for items held at the six campuses’ libraries. Circulating items available at the Irvine, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Francisco libraries can be sent to the San Diego Library. See Interlibrary Loans/Paging/LINK+ for further details.
ENCORE searches the same materials as the Classic Catalog but allows for a different way to search. Refine results to better focus in on your topic.
My Library Account – Activate your library account by contacting your home library or fill out the online “Activate Account” form. Log into “My Library Account” to monitor activity on your account, check due dates and status of requested items, and to renew materials.
Research Databases – First stop for locating research materials. Some databases have links to full-text journal articles and online books. Remember if the item is not full-text in the database or you are having problems with the full-text links search the journal or book title in the Encore catalog. The library purchases several journal packages to supplement the databases that do not offer full-text access, especially for recently published issues. For book titles (not chapter titles) don't forget to also search the LINK+ catalog.
Alliant Theses – Search owned dissertations & theses by chairperson, methodology, tests, or statistics used. Dissertations and some theses published since 1997 should be available in the Dissertations & Theses database. New dissertations may not be available for 3-6 months after submission date.
Mobile/iPhone Apps – Download database apps to access library resources from your smart phone.
Computers available in Library
Registered students, staff & faculty members need a User Account to log on to the networked computers in the Library and Computer Lab. A limited number of laptops are available to check out for use on campus. Laptops check out for three hours with one 3-hour renewal with no overnight checkouts. The building does have wireless. Please contact Help Desk (858-635-4357) in Daley Hall if you have problems with your user account or student computers.
The Dissertation Acceptance process is handled by the library. You can find information and forms needed for Dissertation Clearance here: https://alliant.libguides.com/LibraryClearance. For information about the IRB process, go to the Alliant Portal: https://portal.alliant.edu/cmcportal/. Look under "Helpful Resources" for information and forms for "IRB (Inst. Rev. Board-Human Research Participants". Dissertations are now submitted electronically to ProQuest. Instructions for creating a ProQuest account are located on the main page under "Dissertations and Doctoral Projects".
Each campus library has one student computer with Nuance software installed. This software can be used to manipulate the PDF file that needs to be uploaded to Proquest – combining separate PDFs, changing the order of pages, etc. When you upload to Proquest, your upload may not contain the signatures of committee members. This requirement is intended to help prevent identity theft. Your upload should have an unsigned signature page in place of the signed one (for most people this is good news, as it means you don’t have to go to the trouble of scanning the signed hard copy and inserting it into the main document).
Interlibrary Loans/Paging/LINK+
Materials, including media (CDs, DVS, videotapes), not available at the San Diego Library may be requested from other libraries. A current library account is needed to complete all requests. Please check Encore or the Classic Catalog for item or journal availability before submitting your request. Requested items usually take 7-28 days to arrive depending on the location of the loaning university. Typically the request is sent to five libraries and each library has up to 8 days to process the loan or cancel it. This is why a request could take up to 2 months to be filled.
For Books not available at Alliant San Diego:
1. Order from another Alliant library.
2. Order from LINK+
3. Submit Interlibrary Loan book request (media generally not available through ILLs)
4. For newly published material interlibrary loan may not be possible. If the item is not a textbook you can recommend the library purchase the item. If the item mets the collection development criteria it could be purchased.
Psychology Tests
Access and checkout of Psychology tests is generally restricted to assessment classes only. Assessment materials used by classes will only be checked out to professors and teaching assistants and not to individual students (some exceptions possible okayed by Assessment Librarians). For psychology tests not used by assessment classes please check the Library Catalog first for item availability. Individual students wishing to check out a test must have an authorization form filled out and signed by faculty member supervising student before assessment materials can be checked out.
Audiovisual Materials
Some DVDs and videotapes available at other Alliant & LINK+ libraries may be requested. Follow instructions for requesting a book. AV materials generally check out for 7 days with no renewals. Some San Diego videos and DVDs are day use only.
Course Reserves/E-Reserves
Books, copies of articles, and other items placed on reserve by faculty members are located at the Circulation Desk. Each professor determines the checkout period and whether it can be removed from the library. All physical course reserve materials are checked out and returned to the Circulation Desk. E-reserve materials will be available in various formats through links in the library catalog. Your instructor will provide the necessary password.