You may find that we do not have immediate access to the material you're trying to use. In this case, we can often borrow the material from another library. To do so, search for the item in Search It. Then, click into the record of the item and see Access Options. If we do not have access to it, click "Get it for me" and select "Request Item." This will allow you to request the book or article, whether we simply don't own it or if it's currently checked out.
Summit is the consortium of Pacific Northwest academic libraries that allows us to get quick and easy access to regional library collections. Summit items are easily requested within Search It, and are delivered to campus through the regional courier service.
Interlibrary loan is a general term for using your library to access materials from other libraries. This is used to describe materials borrowed from other consortium libraries (i.e. Summit), but also requesting books or PDFs of articles from libraries around the world.
No, you should never need to purchase an article. Request it through our library. If there is no record of the item in Search It, click "Interlibrary Loan form" at the top of the Search It page to fill out a form manually.
Occasionally you can get access to your required textbooks through the library. However, please note that many libraries do not acquire textbooks, and those that do are likely to have these current materials limited to in-library use for their patrons. Similarly, many required textbooks on this campus are shelved in Reference for you to use while you're in the library (but not check out).