Library Resources for Off-Campus Patrons

The United States Sports Academy library's resources are available to distance learning students using the following guidelines.

1. Policies and Procedures
   1. Communications Modes: Students taking courses through distance learning can communicate with the library through a variety of means, including fax and e-mail. The resources of the Internet are also available to students through the library. This use is restricted, however, so contact the librarian for specific details. The following should be used to reach the library:

2. Internal Resources: A number of resources are available to students directly from the Academy library. These include monographs (over 3,500 cataloged titles), journals (over 220 active subscriptions), theses and dissertations. In addition, bibliographies can be generated using the Sport Discus and ABI-Inform cd-rom databases, as well as the DIALOG databases online.
3. External Resources: Students are encouraged to utilize their local area libraries before extending their searches. If this proves to be inadequate and a sufficient amount of information cannot be located at the Academy library, a final option is interlibrary loans. As a full-fledged member of OCLC, the world's largest bibliographic database, we have access to over 24.8 million records. The Academy library can request books, articles, papers, conference proceedings, dissertations, and theses from almost 5,000 member institutions. Due to our membership in the Network of the Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL), we can borrow this material at no charge within the state of Alabama. However, if materials are borrowed from outside the state, the student is responsible for all charges. These usually range from $3.00-$5.00 for articles and $5.00-$10.00 for books. Students must allow two to three weeks for these materials to be delivered, so deadlines are very important.
4. Procedures: Students should follow these basic guidelines when they begin research projects:
   1. Select a topic
   2. Research local area libraries
   3. Contact the Academy library for additional information
   4. Generate bibliographies using appropriate indexes
   5. Have bibliographies sent to you
   6. Request articles based on your bibliographies
   7. Gather information from the library or through ILL
   8. Have that information sent to you
   9. Pay any fees for copying, ILLs and searches according to the fee schedule.
5. Time: Students should allow a minimum of three to four weeks to complete their research. Collecting material after the generation of bibliographies can be a time consuming process, particularly if it becomes necessary to use interlibrary loans. The Academy library has access to a large number of resources; however, students must allow a sufficient amount of time for this information to be collected since not all of it is in the library.
2. Student Fees
   1. CD-ROM Searches: A flat fee of $25.00 will be assessed for each subject successfully searched on either of the cd-roms. This will include a bibliography and any delivery charges incurred by the library. The search can be faxed to students if it is not long (over 10 pages);however, a fax fee of $1.00 per page will be charged for this service above the cost of the search itself.
   2. Online Searches: A flat fee of $25.00 plus the cost of the search will be assessed for each subject searched using an online database. Online charges cannot be predicted; they will vary depending on the database searched, the length of time spent online, and the number of citations downloaded. However, you may specify a cost, and the Librarian will attempt to complete that search within that cost. A downside to this is that it may not provide you with all the needed citations. Try to narrow your search through other means than cost first. Most searches at the library are done through DIALOG.
   3. Interlibrary Loans: No charges are assessed if the material can be obtained from a participating NAAL library. However, if the material is borrowed from a non-NAAL library, a fee may be charged by the lending library. These charges will be passed along to the patron.
   4. Copying: A charge of $.10 a page will be assessed for in-house copying. This does not include bibliographies generated by cd-rom or online searches. If the student wants these articles faxed, an additional fee of $1.00 per page will be charged.
   5. Invoices: The library is responsible for the payment of fees, with invoices being sent out on a regular basis. All monies received will be receipted and delivered to the Finance office for deposit.
3. Non-Academy Affiliates
   1. CD-ROM Searches: A flat fee of $50.00 will be assessed for each subject successfully searched on either of the cd-roms. This will include a bibliography and any delivery charges incurred by the library. The search can be faxed to students if it is not long (over 10 pages);however, a fax fee of $1.00 per page will be charged for this service above the cost of the search itself.
   2. Online Searches: A flat fee of $50.00 plus the cost of the search will be assessed for each subject searched using an online database. Online charges cannot be predicted; they will vary depending on the database searched, the length of time spent online, and the number of citations downloaded. However, you may specify a cost, and the Librarian will attempt to complete that search within that cost. A downside to this is that it may not provide you with all the needed citations. Try to narrow your search through other means than the cost first. Most searches at the library are done through DIALOG.
   3. Interlibrary Loans: No charges are assessed if the material can be obtained from a participating NAAL library. However, if the material is borrowed from a non-NAAL library, a fee may be charged by the lending library. These charges will be passed along to the patron.
   4. Copying: A charge of $.25 a page will be assessed for in-house copying. This does not include bibliographies generated by cd-rom or online searches. If the student wants these articles faxed, an additional fee of $1.00 per page will be charged.
   5. Invoices: Fees will be passed on to the requester. All monies received will be receipted and delivered to the Finance office for deposit.