Library Resources

Did You Know?

Your CSU library has a wealth of free resources and expertise available to both you and your students.

  • Your campus library can provide access to the highest quality electronic textbooks, online scholarly journal articles, streaming audio and video, and other materials for instructional uses -- all at no cost to your students.
  • Your library’s collection of electronic books and journal articles can be especially useful in upper division classes where free or low cost textbooks that align with the more specialized curriculum are often scarce.

CSU Libraries

NEWS: CSU Libraries Respond to COVID-19

Campus library substituting library resources for textbooks examples

Bakersfield

CSU Bakersfield Library screenshot

Dominguez Hills

CSU Dominguez Hills Library screenshot

San Jose

San Jose State University Library screenshot

To learn if your campus library has created a similar resource, contact your AL$ Campus Coordinator.

Saving Students Money by Using Library Resources

What You Can Do

  1. Start with your syllabus and consider your learning objectives for each component of the course.
    1. Are there library resources such as eJournals or eBooks that could be combined as a substitute for textbooks?
    2. For advanced classes, consider having your students find the course materials as part of developing their research and information literacy skills within your discipline .
  2. Search your library's website to locate the online, full text resources to which your library subscribes.
  3. Make an appointment with your library’s reference or instructional librarians affiliated with your discipline. Your librarian can guide you to finding the best materials using power databases and discovery tools and often can offer best practices on how to incorporate those materials into your online course.
  4. Contact your campus AL$ Coordinator to see if there is a “Free eTextbook” program in the library.

Making Library Resources Available within your LMS Course

Once you have identified the free library resources you would like to incorporate into your course, you will want to make them available to your students in the most seamless way possible without having to leave your current learning management system.

  • You can distribute your online library resources and arrange them into a reading list for your students, providing simple, seamless access for students both on- and off-campus using database tools provided by your library.

Looking for Resources to Help Students Improve their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Skills?

  • If students are going to be successful using digital content and searching for quality educational resources, they need to practice the requisite skills.
  • The CSU has organized a wealth of open educational resources and CSU licensed materials that you and your students can use to improve their skills in effectively and efficiently using information and communication technologies.
  • To learn more, visit the MERLOT ICT Literacy Community 

Open Access Journals

Substituting Library Resources for Textbooks: What Can You Do?

  1. Begin with your syllabus and consider your learning objectives for each component of the course. Are there library resources such as eJournals or eBooks that could be combined as a substitute for textbooks? For advanced classes, consider having your students find the course materials as part of developing their research and information literacy skills within your discipline.
  2. You can search your library's website (links in the sidebar on the right) to locate the online, full text resources to which your library subscribes.
  3. Make an appointment with one your library’s reference and instructional librarians. Many CSU libraries have liaisons for each college, school, or even department on campus. Your librarian can guide you to finding the best materials using the power databases and discovery tools available in the library, and often can offer best practices on how to include those materials in your online course.

Export Library Resources into Your LMS Course Quickly and Easily

  • Your library has powerful tools for finding eBooks, electronic journal articles, and other digital resources in your library’s collection that can become course materials for your students — all at no cost to them.
  • We now have a quick and easy way for you to discover these online library resources and arrange them into a reading list for your students, providing simple, seamless access for students both on- and off-campus. And best of all, you can do that all without having to leave your learning management system. Contact ALS@calstate.edu for more information.

Looking for Resources to Help Students Improve their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Skills?