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Distance Students

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A Quick Introduction

Who is Considered a Distance Student?

During Spring 2021, all students will have the ability to have books mailed to them and print articles/book chapters scanned and sent to them.

The WCU Libraries define distance students as students who:

  • take all of their classes online -or-
  • take all of their classes at WCU in Philadelphia -or-
  • take all of their classes at the Graduate Center -or-
  • take all of their classes at the Exton campus -or-
  • take all of their classes at the DCCC campus -or-
  • take a combination of online classes, classes at WCU in Philadelphia, classes at the Graduate Center, classes at the Exton campus, and classes at the DCCC campus.

Non-distance students may find the information in this guide useful for accessing resources while off-campus, but they will not be able to request books be mailed to their home.

Getting Articles and Books as a Distance Student

86% of WCU library material is online, available to you 24/7.  This includes:

  • Ebooks
  • Full-text online articles
  • Streaming videos & music

If we don't have it online, you can request it be sent to you. You can also request items WCU doesn't own.

If you need a:       Please use:
Book                         A Request for books we own (sign in to see the request option);

EZborrow for books WCU doesn't own (use Main Circulation Desk as your pickup location)
DVD A Request for DVDs we own (sign in to see the request option);

EZborrow for DVDs WCU doesn't own (use Main Circulation Desk as your pickup location)
Article or thesis               ILLiad
Book chapter       ILLiad, please include both the book title and either the chapter title or page numbers of the chapter. Please submit one chapter at a time.

ILLiad Accounts for Distance Students

Since you will use ILLiad to request articles and book chapters not available online, you should make sure your ILLiad account identifies you as a distance student.  To do this:

  1. Go to ILLiad and login with your WCU email and password.
  2. From the ILLiad menu, click on Profile, then Update Profile.
  3. Under User Information, look for the Status and Campus Affiliation fields.
  4. Enter Distance Education Student as your Status and choose your campus. You can also enter your phone number to receive text updates instead of emails.

Once you are logged in to ILLiad, you will see any articles/book chapters you have received (Electronically Received Articles) and any requests that are still being processed (Outstanding Requests). To request a new article or book chapter, use the New Requests menu.

If you have questions about your ILLiad account, check with the Interlibrary Loan department

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