Resources for UAF Distance Students

The Rasmuson Library

The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library is located on the main University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The library is comprised of the main library as well as the BioSciences Library. Containing more than 2.2 million items and subscribing to more than 172 online databases, many FULL-TEXT, we are the largest library in the state of Alaska.

The Rasmuson Library has one of the world's finest collections of Alaska and Polar Regions (APR) materials including books, periodicals, photography, manuscripts, films, oral histories, rare books, and maps.  The collections are centered on Alaska but include many items about the Circumpolar North and Antarctica.  Subject bibliographers, archivists, anthropologists and historians on the APR staff are available for reference and research assistance.

Register for your Library Card

Distance Students, Faculty and Staff may fill out the Library Card Application and we will send your library card. A library card will be mailed to you within 24 hours of receipt of your request, within normal business hours.

UAF E-Mail

Activate Your UAF E-mail Account

To access the Rasmuson Library databases remotely, you will first need to activate your UAF Email account.

UAF Email accounts are available to all UAF students, faculty, and staff, free-of-charge.

When you register for a class you automatically receive a UAF email account. This provides you with the university email account username and password you will need to access library databases at a distance, Blackboard, and Webmail (optional). However, you must activate your account.

To activate your UAF email account:

  1. Go to Computing's E-Mail Account Lookup page at https://ssl.uaf.edu:1917/
  2. Complete the E-mail Account Lookup Form, making sure to answer all the yes / no questions.
  3. Submit the form.

In rare circumstances it may not be possible to activate your email account online. In those cases, contact the UAF Computing Help Desk toll-free at 1-800-478-4667 or via email at fxhelp@uaf.edu for assistance.

Change Your UAF E-mail Password

Your UAF email password will expire every 4 months and you must choose a new password. When this happens you will be unable to access the databases remotely and you must choose a new password.

To change your password:

  1. Go to Webmail at http://webmail.uaf.edu/
  2. Click on the Usermin link
  3. Enter your UAF username
  4. Enter your UAF username and password (the old one)
  5. Select Login, then Change Password
  6. Fill in the blanks of the form following the guidelines provided.

For more information about this and other Usermin functions go to Email Account Utilities-Usermin at http://www.uaf.edu/dcc/helpdesk/docs/usermin/index.html

Forgot Your Password?

If you have forgotten your UAF email password, contact Computing's Help Desk and ask them to reset your password back to the default. Your default password is usually your Social Security number. To access the online databases remotely you must change your password to something else. See "Change you UAF email password."

Contact the UAF Computing Help Desk at 907-474-6564, toll-free at 1-800-478-4667 (within Alaska) or via email at fxhelp@uaf.edu for assistance, if required.

UAF Webmail

If you choose to use your UAF account for email, you may access your e-mail account via UAF Webmail at http://webmail.uaf.edu/.

Starting Your Research

Need Books?

The UAF Library Catalog (Goldmine) can be used to locate not only what is owned by the Rasmuson Library but what is owned by all the sites in the University of Alaska Fairbanks system.

If you don't find what you need, try WorldCat and we will borrow the book from another library. WorldCat contains the holdings of more that 21,000 libraries worldwide.

Access Databases from Off-Campus

To access the Rasmuson Library databases remotely, you will first need to activate your UAF Email account. See "Activate Your UAF E-mail Account" listed above.

Selecting a Databases

All Rasmuson online databases can be accessed via the Article Indexes and Collections page at UAF Rasmuson Library website (http://library.uaf.edu). From this page you can select the appropriate database from an Alphabetical List, from a Subject List, or directly by Title.

Do you need background information?

Search databases, such as Academic Search Premier, or an encyclopedia such as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Do you need articles fast?

Start with databases that offer online full-text articles, such as Academic Search Premier, MasterFILE Premier, Electronic collections Online (ECO), WilsonSelect Plus, or Periodical Abstracts (PerAbs).

Is your topic part of an academic discipline, such as education, science, mathematics, social sciences?

Example: "Teaching children to read" is in the discipline of education; "Water pollution in the Great Lakes" is a science topic.

  • Choose a Specialized Database such as ERIC or Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management.
  • Search Academic Search Premier. This is a collection of full-text subject databases in education, social sciences, science and humanities.

Is your topic interdisciplinary? Does it bridge more than one discipline?

Example: "Employee supervision in schools" bridges the disciplines of education and management.

  • Search a Multi-Disciplinary Database such as Academic Search Premier or Expanded Academic ASAP.
  • You may also search two or more Specialized Databases, such as ERIC and Business Source Premier.

Do you still need more information after searching the full-text databases?

Search a large research databases such as:

  • ERIC
  • MLA Bibliography
  • PsycINFO
  • Sociological Abstracts.

Some databases provide only citations and abstracts for journal articles, not full-text, so you will need to obtain the articles from a library. However, ERIC, PsycInfo and Sociological Abstracts link to full-text items from other databases by the same vendor.

Interlibrary Loan

If you didn’t find full-text articles or you need books that Rasmuson Library does not own, we can borrow them from another library for you. Articles usually take 2-14days and will most likely be delivered electronically. Allow 1-3 weeks for books to arrive through the U.S. Mail. Requests for items can be placed through the Interlibrary Loan/Illiad system which is accessible from the library’s web page. Be sure to register as a “First Time User”.

Accessing Electronic Documents

ILL documents (articles, etc...) are posted online whenever possible. Electronic documents are viewed by logging onto your ILLiad account and clicking on the button "View/Download Electronically Received Articles. " Documents are viewed on the internet not sent as e-mail attachments.

The computer you are using must have Adobe Acrobat Reader Installed. We suggest having the latest version of Acrobat Reader installed to assure compatibility. The current version is available for free at the Adobe web site.

UAF Journals List

The UAF Journals List identifies periodicals by their titles, not by their topics. So you must know which periodical, newspaper, or journal you need before you can successfully search the UAF Journals List. Use the UAF Journals List to find full-text journal articles in journals the Library subscribes to online. Or, browse an issue of your favorite journal online. Access the UAF Journals List via the Rasmuson Library. See how to use The UAF Journals List.

Blackboard

Blackboard is UAF's course management system. Many UAF courses use Blackboard to deliver course materials online 24/7 and allow students to interact with instructors and other students.

Access Blackboard - http://classes.uaf.edu/

Returning Users -
If you have used Blackboard before, your username and password will remain the same.

New Users -
If you are new to Blackboard, your username is your UAF email username and your password will be your UA Student ID number followed by a capital U, (30123456U).

You can Lookup Your University of Alaska ID and Username online. See Help For New Users for additional step-by-step instructions.

If you need assistance with Blackboard or would like additional information, please visit the Blackboard: Getting Help page for Instructors and Students.

Report any Blackboard problems by e-mail to the OIT Help Desk at fxhelp@uaf.edu.

Computer Problems?

For computer or connection problems contact the UAF Computing Help Desk (http://www.uaf.edu/dcc/helpdesk/index.html) for assistance.

Phone: 1-800-478-4667 (within Alaska) or 1-907-474-6564
E-mail: fxhelp@uaf.edu

In addition, DC & C provides helpful information on Virus Alerts and Tools that can be accessed through their main page at http://www.uaf.edu/dcc/index.html.

The Writing Center

The UAF Writing Center also has a few Reference Tools available at http://www.uaf.edu/english/writingcenter/reference.htm.