Online Library Services

The library provides a growing collection of online content, including e-books; articles from scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers; dissertations and theses; streaming video; company, industry, and market research reports; statistics, data, and more.

There are three types of search tools for finding online library materials:

1. Library Quick Search, the search box on our homepage, is our discovery tool that searches across multiple databases in all disciplines

          2. Google Scholar to find scholarly articles and books

         3. Databases for in-depth searching within a discipline and to find content not searchable through Library Quick Search.

What is a Library Database?    

A database is an online source of information that is organized, indexed, and searchable via an internal search engine. Generally, library databases provide information not available for free on the Internet.

Databases may include different types of content, such as:

Full-text:  articles from scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers; e-books; different types of reports; etc.
Indexes: citations and abstracts of articles. Look for the button to request full text to be delivered to your email address.
Specialized databases: statistics and data; mapping tools; standards; specialized business tools, including company, industry and market research reports; psychology tests; government regulations; and more.

Most UTSA databases are available remotely with abc123 login. There are three business databases (Bloomberg, Capital IQ, and Datastream) and one nutrition database (Nutribase) which are only available on designated workstations inside the John Peace Library on the Main Campus.

Explore UTSA Libraries’ Research Guides to learn more about databases and other resources in different subject areas.

For the materials not available online at UTSA, the library will obtain journal articles and selected book chapters and email them to your UTSA.edu email address. To place a request, you may login to your GET IT FOR ME account, or just click on the  button in your database or Library Quick Search results.

You may request print books, CDs, and DVDs owned by the UTSA Libraries to be mailed to you via the GET IT FOR ME service.

Loan periods for distance students:

Online Undergraduate Students:
DVD’s and CD’s – 4 of each item for a 14 day checkout period
Books – 50 items for 30 days at a time

Online Graduate and Certificate Students:
DVD’s and CD’s – 4 of each item or a 14 day period
Books – 50 items for a semester-long checkout period

Distance students and faculty will be responsible for return mailing costs and any charges and fees in relation to overdue or lost items from our library collections.

Please return checked out materials to this address:

UTSA Libraries, Access Services Dept.
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX 78249-0671

Some physical items are not available for delivery via the Get It For Me Service, including:

• Items on reserve
• Institute for Texas Cultures (ITC) items
• Restricted tests
• Special Collections items
• Items from our Curriculum Materials Collection
• Materials borrowed from other libraries

• Public Libraries or Public Universities in your area: Join your local public library or public university library to have access to their collections and interlibrary loan services.  Local fees may apply

• For distance students residing in Texas, TexShare is a statewide library resource-sharing program. It allows students and faculty from one library to check out library materials at other participating libraries. This service applies to UTSA students, staff members, and faculty members who wish to borrow materials from other Texas libraries.

To obtain a TexShare card, simply email us at circulation@utsa.edu with your official UTSA email address and abc123, and we will mail you a TexShare card to the address you have on file.

UTSA's Online Learning encourages using this software.