Community Patron Guide

Within the Indiana University Northwest library, community patron is defined as a person who is not enrolled or working at Indiana University, but is an Indiana resident OR an Ivy Tech student.

Compared to people enrolled or employed at IUN, community patrons have limits on library materials they can access through our library. We outline this access below.

• Physical Books/Media

  • Only items available in our library are available.
    • Cannot request materials for other campuses or other libraries.
  • Books in Stacks or New Book Area can be checked out.
  • Media such as DVDs, audiobooks, etc can be checked out.
  • Books in Reserves are not available for community patrons.
  • All other physical books, magazines, newspapers, etc can only be used in library.

• Online Books/Media

  • Most e-books, online videos, and other online content are only available when using on-campus computers designated for community patrons.
    • Only content linked as either [Northwest] or [All campuses] may be accessed in this way. We cannot offer access to other campuses' e-books, online videos, etc.
    • No option exists for community patrons to access this content from home or with other devices.
    • Some exceptions exist, such as for government documents.
  • Licensing terms from certain vendors may still prevent access.
  • Consult our Free Resources page for databases and websites that offer free access to online content from any device or connection.

• Articles From Journals, Magazines, etc.

• Physical journals, magazines, newspapers, etc cannot be checked out of the library and must be used within the library.
  • Current issues are available on the first floor near the cafe, or through the Public Service Desk.
  • Older issues of journals and magazines are placed in alphabetical order by title on the second floor.
    • If taking the elevator, go left after getting off on the second floor to find these journals and magazines on shelves.
    • These older issues are bound together as hardcover copies.
• Most online journals, magazines, newspapers, etc can only be accessed through community patron computers.
  • In addition to printing, some databases will allow downloading the article or E-mailing the article to yourself as an attachment.

Our Researching Articles LibGuide offers a basic explanation on how to conduct searches for articles using our library databases. The main databases suggested in the LibGuide require that the person be enrolled or employed at IU Northwest, or else use one of the desktop computers provided within the library for community patrons.

Our databases can be reached on the library homepage using the "Databases A-Z" and "Databases by Subject" buttons.

Our IUCAT LibGuide explains the basics of how to use IUCAT, our online catalog for the library. The link to IUCAT provided here searches only content available at IU Northwest by default.

Not all features mentioned in the IUCAT LibGuide are available to community patrons. For example, "Request This" and the ability to log into IUCAT to renew a book are only available to people enrolled or employed at IU.

The video below explains how to find books using our Library of Congress call number system, which differs from how most public libraries use Dewey Decimal system. However, someone at our public service desk can help with finding specific books by their call numbers if you need assistance.