Hassenfeld Library: Visiting Vanderbilt

Visiting Scholar status at Vanderbilt allows you to check out library materials under your own name, and also provides access to Vanderbilt's libraries during their hours of restricted access. Ask Ms. Pritchard for the Visiting Scholar form and for the email address where you should send it.

1. Fill out the Visiting Scholar form and have it signed by the Head of School.
2. Scan and email the form to Vanderbilt's Library Administration. They will create a library account and complete a card application for you, based on the information on the form, and will notify you when this is done.
3. Go to the Commodore Card Office (184 Sarratt Student Center) with a photo ID to obtain a Commodore Card. This office is open M-F, 8:30-4. There is a $25 charge for the card.
4. Bring your Commodore Card to the Central Library service desk to have it linked to your Vanderbilt library account.

The Discover library catalog will help you locate articles and books at the Vanderbilt libraries. Discover searches all of the books in the physical collections at Vanderbilt's many libraries.

Discover also searches each library's web-access collection, including e-books and e-journals, though you must be on the Vanderbilt campus and at a library computer in order to view those sources.

TIPS:

• Make your search as focused as possible.
  • Use the Advanced Search button next to the search bar to add more keywords.
  • Use the search filters on the left side of your results page to focus on a particular date range, subject, language, or location.
• You may find it helpful to look at Vanderbilt's research guides to help you locate the best sources for your research.

If you have Visiting Scholar status, you can reserve and check out materials under your own name. These instructions are for faculty/staff who do not have Visiting Scholar status.

1. Search the Discover library catalog.
2. Once you find a book that you want, click the pushpin icon at the top of the record. You can continue searching and saving more book records during the same session.
3. When you’re done searching, click the pushpin icon in the top navigation bar (next to "Sign in"). You will see a list of all the items you saved.
4. Click the box at the top of the page that selects all the records at once.
5. At the top of the page, you'll see an icon of the pushpin with a slash through it, and three dots next to it. Click on the three dots to bring up your other options, then click Email and put in your email address.
6. When you receive the email with the information about the books you saved, forward it to Ms. Pritchard.
7. Ms. Pritchard will request your books and email you when they arrive in our library. This may take two or three days.

You must be on campus at Vanderbilt and using one of their library computers in order to access their online resources. Once you are on a Vanderbilt library computer, go to the Databases page on the Vanderbilt library website and click on any title to search within that particular database.

While you are on a Vanderbilt library computer, you can also look at e-books or e-journal articles in the Discover catalog.

When you find a useful article or source, you may email the article to yourself or save it to your USB flash drive. You can also print articles for $0.05 per page.

When can I go?
The hours for all of Vanderbilt's libraries are listed here. Each library has hours when it is open to the public, and hours when access is restricted to Vanderbilt ID holders. Your Visiting Scholar card allows you to enter the libraries during their restricted access hours.

Where are the different libraries?
This map shows you where all of Vanderbilt's libraries are. The Central Library is closest to USN, across from CVS on 21st Avenue.

What should I bring?
Bring a USB flash drive if you want to download and save any articles or other materials from Vanderbilt’s online databases and collections. You can also bring some money for the printer and photocopier, so that you can print out any articles you find, or photocopy pages from a book. Printing costs $0.05 per page.

Can I check out books while I’m there?
Yes, if you have Visiting Scholar status. Otherwise, to check out books from Vanderbilt, you will need to request them through the USN library.

If you have questions or need help, email Ms. Brown (cbrown@usn.org) or Ms. Pritchard (kpritchard@usn.org). If you are at Vanderbilt, any of the librarians on duty will be glad to help you.

This is a new program at USN, and Ms. Pritchard would love to hear your feedback. Let us know what worked, what was confusing, and what we could do differently.