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Finding course materials in the library
Search MUSCAT Plus to check if a book is already available to the Gettysburg College community.
To limit your MUSCAT Plus search to ebooks:
- Use the drop-down menu next to the search bar, select “Library Catalog” and enter your search terms.
- In the search results, use the Narrow Your Results panel on the left of the screen to choose:
- Source Types: Books;
- Limit to: Available Online.
The library has also made a short tutorial on Finding and Reading Ebooks.
Publishers apply different restrictions to the ebook access (e.g., how many users can access simultaneously, amount of the book that can be downloaded). While these restrictions are sometimes detailed on the ebook page, instructors can also direct questions about access and restrictions to their liaison librarian.
Instructors are invited to complete the Course Materials Request & Reserves form to explore options for making their course materials available to students via the library’s Course Materials collection.
Linking to books and articles in Moodle
Instructors are encouraged to link to digital library materials in syllabi or Moodle course sites rather than copying and uploading pdfs. No copyright clearance is necessary when linking to materials (because no copy is being made).
- In MUSCAT Plus, use the Permalink. The Permalink can be found in the full record for the item.
- In EBSCOhost databases, use the Permalink. The Permalink can be found on the “Tools” menu in the full record.
- In ProQuest databases, use the browser URL (no special permalink necessary).
Moving away from the commercial textbook system
If you’re interested in liberation from copyright restrictions and prohibitively high book costs, consider adopting Open Educational Resources instead of commercial materials. The Johnson Center for Creative Teaching & Learning offers an OER/Zero-Cost Conversion grant to support this work. Visit the Open Education guide to learn more, or email oer@gettysburg.edu.