EMU's Distance Learning Policy for Library Services

The goals for Eastern Michigan’s Distance Learning Program are :
1) Eastern Michigan University is dedicated to providing quality Distance Education.
2) Eastern Michigan students will be taught how to access information.
3) Students will learn the steps of the research process.
4) Students will become adept at using online databases and the Internet for research.
5) Students will learn to be competitive and self-sufficient in this technological age.
6) The Halle Library will accommodate the informational needs of the distance learning community.
7) Library skills will be taught to instill independent literacy skills for distance learners. Printed user guides will help in this endeavor.
8) Eastern Michigan University Students will be challenged to be problem solvers and seek their own solutions to problems.
9) Computer technology will augment the educational process.

Eastern Michigan University’s Halle Library provides access to more than seventy partially or totally full text databases that help you identify articles in journals, magazines and newspapers.
Therefore, most student’s research can be done from home, work or a regional center. If the article says it is full text, the student can click on the words View HTML Full Text, Go to Remote, or View PDF Full Text to print the entire article. The Library has just purchased a database called ERIC Documents ED Full Text (E* Subscribe) This database uses the Adobe PDF format to print the full text of the Documents starting with the year 1993. The Halle Library is committed to quality “user friendly” support for Distance Learning Students.

Depending on where you live or teach, you may find it more convenient to use other libraries. If you do not come to the Ypsilanti campus for class, we encourage you to start with regionally convenient libraries to access information resources. While you can still use Halle Library to get materials not owned locally, you will get the material more quickly if you make the interlibrary loan/document delivery request from your local public library. Remember, we have agreements with Mott Community College, Jackson Community College, Monroe Community College, and Northwestern Michigan College that allow Continuing Education (CEL) students and faculty to use their library services, including interlibrary loan and document delivery. EMU has established a reciprocal borrowing agreement with the following libraries:

Cleary College Library Oakland Community College Libraries
Concordia College Library Oakland University
Henry Ford Community College Schoolcraft College Library
Grand Valley State University University of Detroit Mercy Libraries
Lawrence Technical University Library University of Michigan-Dearborn Library
Macomb Community College Libraries Walsh College Library
Madonna University Library Washtenaw Community College Library
Monroe Community College

If you want to access these libraries’ catalogs, you can do so by going into http://mel.org. Click on online catalogs and then by clicking on Academic Libraries. The Library catalogs are listed in alphabetical order. Students, faculty and staff may visit these libraries and check out materials using a valid EMU ID Card. Those who want to borrow from these libraries and do not have an EMU ID can contact jblock@online.emich.edu for a library authorization card. Please allow ten days for processing.

If a search of the Halle Library catalog (Web Voyager) reveals that a book is not owned, you can obtain an INFOPASS to visit the following libraries and check out the materials directly if you discover another library owns the item(s). You can check their online catalog by going to http://mel.org. The INFOPASS Libraries include:

Detroit College of Business St.Clair County Community College LRC
Highland Park Community College Library St. Mary’s College Library
Lewis College of Business Library William Tyndale College Library
Marygrove College Library Wayne County Community College
Wayne State University Library

Contact Judy Block at jblock@emich.edu for more information about obtaining an INFOPASS.

EMU students, faculty, and staff in good standing (no overdue books or outstanding fines) are eligible to receive a Michicard sticker. A Michicard sticker applied to your EMU ID will allow you to check out materials at participating Michicard libraries. To get a Michicard sticker, you can visit Halle Library and complete a Michicard Statewide Library Card Application or contact your local public library to determine if it is a Michicard Library. For more information about the Michicard program, including a list of participating libraries, log on to: http://www.libofmich.lib.mi.us/publications/micard.html.

EMU participates in these four programs to allow our students to visit other libraries and borrow material directly from them. Visiting these libraries may be quicker for you because if we have to get materials that we do not own from another library it will take four weeks for the Halle Library to receive books and two weeks for us to receive magazine articles. We then would send the material to your home. If you provide an e-mail address or fax number, and the information can be transmitted in these ways, we will send the item directly to you. Otherwise, the item will be mailed first class (journal, magazine and newspaper articles) or UPS (books, theses, dissertations.)