Faculty Support
CMU’s Off Campus Library Services has a long tradition of providing high-quality library resources and services to off-campus students and faculty. And with the rise of online instruction, OCLS is now committed to providing that same high level of service to online learners and instructors as well. Helping students meet their educational and professional goals and providing support to the faculty who enable them to do so is our mission.
OCLS strives to continuously improve the services we provide to students and faculty. If you have questions about how we can help you or your students, please contact us at 1-800-274-3838 or oclsref@cmich.edu.
To ensure that your students receive the maximum benefit of a CMU education, direct them to OCLS for their research needs. And be sure to take advantage of the services that we offer to you!
- Do you have readings you'd like to make available to your students?
- Would you like to show a video to your class?
- Do you have questions about including library research in your assignments?
- Do you need help with selecting textbooks or case studies for your courses?
- Are you looking for ways to discourage student plagiarism?
- Would you like information about library resources and services provided to your class?
- Do your students need help retrieving the kind of information you want them to use for class assignments?
- Do your students need help with citation style and/or writing?
1. Do you have readings you'd like to make available to your students?
Copyright and Course Packs: OCLS can help you develop an electronic course pack that includes instructor-required reading material that is placed into Blackboard to provide students with access. Most journal articles and book excerpts are copyrighted and require permission from the rights holder before reproduction, so the OCLS course pack coordinator will assist you with the following:
- Securing permission to use materials
- Obtaining originals of the materials requested
- Scanning materials (including those authored by you) as PDF documents
- Placing course pack documents into your Blackboard shell
For more information, please contact Laurie Bellinger at (800) 274-3838 or (989) 774-3828.
Request copyright/course pack assistance using our online form
Customized booklists: OCLS librarians can develop lists of books for specific classes. These booklists will include print and electronic books that are available from the CMU Libraries collection, and titles may be requested through the OCLS Document Delivery Service.
Request a booklist
2. Would you like to show a video to your class?
Video reserves: Off-campus faculty may borrow videos through the OCLS Document Delivery service. Available video titles may be located by searching the CENTRA (to locate videos specifically, be sure to select DVD/Video from the pull-down menu in the Material Type: box before searching). To ensure that video titles are available for specific dates, please submit requests to DDO at least two weeks in advance.
Video purchases: Faculty may request video titles to be purchased for the library collection. Purchase of video titles will be based on existing collection needs, anticipated demand, and availability of funds. The requesting faculty member will be notified when the title is available for use. Videos will be added to the CMU Libraries collection and made available to both on- and off-campus faculty as well as to on-campus students.
3. Do you have questions about including library research in your assignments?
By designing effective library research assignments, you can reduce instances of plagiarism, increase the effectiveness of your teaching, and maximize your students’ learning. Contact a librarian to discuss matching the parameters of your assignment to the resources and services available through the CMU Libraries.
4. Do you need help with selecting textbooks or case studies for your courses?
Publisher and bookstore Web sites offer information that will help you select textbooks or case studies. Many publishers’ Web sites also allow faculty to request an examination copy. You’ll find resources for locating text books at:
Resources for locating case studies are available at:
An OCLS librarian can assist you by providing complete bibliographic information that may be needed by the program administrator assigned to your class or cohort.
5. Are you looking for ways to discourage student plagiarism?
The rise of electronic information has made student plagiarism a real issue in higher education. Follow the links below for tips on discouraging plagiarism in your classroom.
6. Would you like information about library resources and services presented to your class?
In the classroom: OCLS Librarians are happy to provide library instructional sessions to off-campus classes where research is a component. Contact us to request a general library usage orientation, or to talk about tailoring a session to meet the specific needs of your students. If computer lab facilities are available, sessions can include hands-on instruction and immediate access to resources, including electronic databases and document delivery services.
Online classes: OCLS librarians are available to provide library instructional sessions to online classes. Using the Wimba interface, a librarian can attend your regularly scheduled online class to provide instruction on how to use the library's resources and OCLS services to your students. Contact us to request a library orientation for your online class.
7. Do your students need help retrieving the kind of information you want them to use for class assignments?
Reference assistance: OCLS librarians can assist students with a variety of research needs, including:
- planning a literature review
- selecting appropriate sources
- formulating a search strategy
- using electronic databases
- identifying scholarly journals
- evaluating web resources
- formatting citations
Please feel free to share these additional tools with your students.
Document delivery service: Students and faculty may request library materials through the OCLS Document Delivery Office. Their services include:
- 24-48 hour electronic delivery of articles published in CMU-owned journals
- Mail delivery of books (and articles, upon request) owned by CMU Libraries
- Interlibrary loan requests for articles and books not owned by CMU Libraries
Document Delivery service is available 7 days a week and requests may be submitted by phone, email, fax, or web form.
8. Do your students need help with citation style and/or writing?
The OCLS web site provides links to resources that will help students plan, write, and edit their research papers. Off-campus students are also directed to CMU’s Writing Center, which allows students to submit written pages electronically and receive reviewer comments and suggestions for improvement within two business days.
Need something else?
Request assistance from OCLS librarians:
Request materials using our Document Delivery service:
- Call us toll-free at 1-800-274-3838 (US and Canada)
In Mexico, call 001-800-544-1452
- Request by email at oclibsvc@cmich.edu
- Send us a toll-free fax at 1-877-329-6257 (1-877-FAX-OCLS).
Please use the fax cover sheet (PDF).
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