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Faculty Resources at Thurgood Marshall Library: Research & Teaching Tools

This guide is intended to assist faculty and staff in using the library's resources and services.

Research & Teaching Tools

The Thurgood Marshall Library (TML) is one of 17 libraries within the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) consortium.

Bowie State University faculty, students, and staff have direct borrowing privileges at these libraries. The consortium libraries are:

  1.  Bowie State University
  2.  Center for Environmental Sciences
  3.  Coppin State University
  4.  Frostburg State University
  5.  Morgan State University
  6.  Loyola/Notre Dame
  7.  Salisbury University
  8.  St. Mary's College of Maryland
  9.  Towson University
  10.  University of Baltimore
  11.  University of Baltimore Law Library
  12.  University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
  13.  University of Maryland, College Park
  14.  University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
  15.  University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library
  16.  University of Maryland Law Library
  17.  University of Maryland University College

Books and other circulating materials can be checked out with a current, registered Bulldog ID Card either in person at the loaning library or online through the Catalog USMAI.

Books requested online are delivered to the library and held at the Circulation Desk for pick-up. The average time for delivery is 48 hours but sometimes may take up to two weeks. 

For more information and step-by-step instruction on how to make requests online, see the following LibGuide and video tutorial.

Thurgood Marshall Library uses ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan internet accessible database) to borrow and lend scholarly resources.

ILLiad (Interlibrary Loan internet accessible database) is the electronic resource management system that is use to send and recieve requested electron scholarly resources. All library users are encouraged to create ILLiad account from here.

Interlibrary Loan Frequently Asked Questions

Login to your ILLiad Account

ILLiad guide - making an ILL request 

Types of materials that can be borrowed

  • Books that are not owned by any of the USMAI libraries. Request books within USMAI libraries through Patron Place Hold (Self-Service) using CatalogUSMAI (select All Campuses)
  • Scholarly journal articles from Journal Titels that are not available at BSU Thurgood Marshall Library either in print or in a PDF electronic format through A-Z Databases, Fetch item (CitationLinker), or E-Journal Search.

Submitting ILL requests

  • Login to your ILLiad Account. To request a journal title click on photocopy and fill out the form with required information as requested. Do not use abbreviations. 
  • Search A-Z Databases. Click on FindIt button that is displayed on Search Results, if full-text is not available. If full-text is still not available and a hard copy is not available at Thurgood Marshall Library after searching CatalogUSMAI (Journal Search), click on Request it from Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Log in to ILLiad. Once the Request Form is polluted, scroll down and click Submit. Please allow 5-10 working days.

How will I get notified that my Interlibrary Loan request have arrived?

  • You will receive an email with specific information and instruction about your requests
  • Books are usually picked up in the library (Use Library Book Check-Out Request to make an appointment to pick up ILL books at the Circulation Desk.)
  • Scholarly journal articles - you will receive a TinyURL & Password or an ILLiad Login URL where you will be able to retrieve a PDF copy of the article. 

LibGuides are online web pages created by Bowie librarians to support BSU students and faculty with their scholarly information and research needs. 

  • Need help with MLA, APA, or Chicago/Turabian format styles, or guidance in writing a literature review or an annotated bibliography?  We’ve got guides for each of these as well as many other writing and research-related guides.
  • Having trouble finding a good database in the A to Z Databases list? Need help figuring out how to request a book from another Maryland library through the USMAI Catalog? Want to know how to access the library’s collections of E-books? BSU LibGuides provide step-by-step instructions using visuals and/or embedded videos for these and other library research tools.

A BSU librarian can also custom-make a LibGuide for a specific course in collaboration with the course instructor. These guides link students directly to course-relevant multi-media resources within the library and/or on the web. Current actively-used BSU course guides include LibGuides for English 100, 101, and 102; and a LibGuide for Visual Culture and Hip Hop/Art 408.

If you have an interest in a course-specific LibGuide or see a need for a LibGuide on a topic we do not yet cover, please call the library main office at 301.860.3850.

OneSearch (EBSCO Discovery Service) is a search tool that allows the user to search simultaneously for books and media in the catalog as well as articles and other types of publications within almost all of the 70-plus databases available to Bowie library users. 

OneSearch shares the same features and layout as other popular EBSCOhost databases making it an easy tool to learn and use. A OneSearch box and/or links to OneSearch are on Thurgood Marshall Library's homepage.

TIPS FOR BEST RESULTS

  • Searches are not case-sensitive; it’s okay to use upper- or lower-case letters.
  • Spelling matters
  • Use keywords or short keyword phrases – avoid complete sentences.
  • Use filters to narrow your results.  Under the "Refine by" column, filter for:
    • Books  - select USMAI Catalog  
    • Scholarly articles - select Scholarly (peer reviewed) journals
    • Publication date 
    • Full-text
    • Subject, Publication, etc.
  • Not enough results? Use fewer keywords
  • Irrelevant results? Go to the A to Z Databases list and select a content-specific database; i.e. ABI/Inform for business, Human Resources, or marketing subjects.  

RefWorks text logo

Citation managers are sophisticated programs that let you build databases of citations, manipulate them in complex ways, and create whole bibliographies with a few mouse clicks. Bowie's Thurgood Marshall library subscribes to one such program called RefWorks. It's FREE to all Bowie students, faculty, and staff.
 

A word of caution, though: There is a learning curve. It won't be faster than typing your citations by hand the first time or two you use it, because you will be learning to operate the program. If you persevere, however, you will soon be a citation ninja. Use the following ProQuest LibGuide, with video tutorial, to help you get started: