Welcome to Primo

What is Primo?

Primo is the new library search tool used to find items in Hamersly Library and our partner Summit libraries, as well as some articles and other electronic resources.

Primo scopes allow you to define where your search is performed. You can select a scope in the drop-down menu right of the search box, or by selecting your desired scope under the search box on the main library home page.[wpspoiler name=”More about Primo” ]

What is included in each scope?

WOU: Books, e-books, audio-visual recordings, maps, scores, microforms, government documents, special collections, journals, magazines, and newspapers available on-site at Hamersly Library.

WOU and Summit: Everything in the WOU list above, plus the holdings of academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest.

WOU, Summit, and Articles, etc.: Everything in the WOU and Summit lists above, as well as some full-text articles. This scope finds search terms in the full-article content.

Primo is one part of your complete search

Primo does not include all the content from the research databases to which WOU subscribes. For discipline-specific searching, use Hamersly Library’s Recommended Databases By Subject.

To search beyond the holdings of Summit libraries, use Worldcat. You can request materials from libraries around the world through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Questions or Comments?

We’re happy to hear from you at our Primo feedback form.[/wpspoiler]

How to order a print book when Hamersly has the ebook

You may have noticed a lot of ebooks popping up in the library’s catalog–we have over 80,000 now! While they are often convenient and just what you need, other times you really want the printed material.

Search for the book in the Summit catalog. Once you’ve verified the title and author, check the Edition/Format field. If it says eBook, click on ‘View all editions and formats.’ Select an alternate edition or format

Now find the Book editions (meaning it’s a physical item, not digital). Choose the one from the Summit collection if possible.

Continue by using the or the buttons, and signing in. Before completing the request, make sure to indicate that you want only this edition. This confirms to library staff that you have seen the ebook we have and you want the physical copy.

Borrow from Summit even while away from Monmouth

Flying books

Do you live or visit close to another college or university? If its library is a Summit member, you can have your materials sent there instead of to Hamersly.

Maybe you live in Salem and you always have to rush back after your WOU classes. To get set up, take your WOU ID card to the library at Willamette University (or maybe Chemeketa Community College). The library will “adopt” you as a Summit patron. Then, when you order your Summit materials, select Willamette as your institution and sign in. Complete your request. Just as if you had it sent to Hamersly, you’ll be notified by email when your item is ready to pick up. Remember to take your WOU ID again to check it out!

You can always return any Summit item to any Summit library. However, it’s best if you hand the item to staff and note that it’s Summit, so it’s sure to be sent and not accidentally shelved there.

You can also borrow material in person from Summit libraries.

Renew items, save a search, and more with My Library

My Library logo

Here’s what you can do with the My Library account through the library catalog:

Review what you have currently checked out, including due dates. This includes Summit and Interlibrary Loan items in your possession as well as Hamersly-owned items.
Renew items of Hamersly-owned items (when renewal is allowable) and see the new due dates.
Place holds on Hamersly-owned items. Use the Request button and we’ll retrieve and hold the item for you at the Checkout Desk.
Connect to Summit Requests to review the status of your requests.
Connect to Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Requests to a) review the status of your requests, b) request a renewal from the lending library, and c) get a blank request form rather than requesting via a database.
Go to My Reading History, the record of Hamersly-owned items that you checked out in the past. Please note that you must opt-in for the history to start accumulating; for privacy reasons we have the library system set to not retain checkout records once items are returned. If you choose to opt-in, you can always delete individual items from your history.
Rate library items (whether or not you’ve ever checked them out) in a five-star system, and review your ratings The item’s catalog record will include your anonymous rating averaged with any other ratings it’s received by other library patrons. The catalog’s rating system is not connected to any outside service.
Set or modify your “preferred searches.” Preferred searches are really handy if you have a favorite author or subject, or if you’ve developed an advanced search you don’t want to remember and rekey several months later. You can rerun the search manually, or the catalog can email you when the library adds new items that meet your search criteria.

Quickly copy all formatting and reapply with Format Painter

icon for Format Painter

Microsoft Office programs offer the Format Painter button that copies formatting from one object and applies its style to another or to many other objects. It leaves the content alone. Format Painter can be used on a variety of content: text and paragraphs, table and spreadsheet cells, shapes and slides.

How to do it: context for Format Painter

Select the text or object whose formatting you like.
On the Home toolbar, single click the Format Painter.
Click on or select the text or object you want to reformat. Ta da!

Options

To copy paragraph formatting (such as alignment, indentation, spacing, etc.) in addition to font formatting, make sure to include selecting the hard return that ends the paragraph.
To apply the same formatting to multiple objects (for example, several headings throughout a paper), double-click the Format Painter. Select all of the destinations for the formatting; then click the Format Painter again to turn it off.

Use a scanner and your print credits as a “color copier.”

Use a scanner for getting color copies While there is not a color photocopier in the library, you can get a color copy by using one of the several scanners we have. Use the KIC or Epson flatbed scanners to capture the image, and make any adjustments to the image you want, including size, before saving it. Then sent it to one of the color print queues (such as HLColorWest). Voilá!

If you really do need a color photocopier, there is one in the WOU Print Shop, ITC 112.

Have an alternative browser (or two) available on your computer

You probably have a standard browser that you use day in and day out to view the Internet. It’s a good idea, however, to have other browsers available on your computer to help out when technical problems or display issues that arise. Sometimes a website’s designed functionality or display just doesn’t play well with the technology of a specific browser.

In the context of the library, for example, the EBSCO databases have a persistent problem with the Chrome browser (otherwise Chrome is a highly recommended browser).

Here are the download pages for some of the major browsers:

Each browser will assume you want it to be your default browser as you download it; just click that option off and continue with the download. You may want to set up your installed browsers with the same home page. Or, you might like to designate the different browsers for different purposes: maybe you’ll populate Firefox with toolbars and extensions that help with school or work, while Chrome is dedicated to online games. Another handy purpose for having different browsers is logging into an online service with multiple identities at the same time. However you choose to manage your Internet browsing, you’ll have a backup browser to try when something’s not working right.

Campus Printing 101

printer Students have 225 pre-paid print credits attached to their network accounts each term that they are enrolled at WOU.

A single page (one side) of a black & white printout costs 1 credit. A single color printout costs 5 credits.

You can check your print credit balance. If you need to purchase additional credits, do so through WolfWeb under the Student Menu. Credits are immediately available for use.

Whatever credits you don’t use roll over to the next term–so if you have 83 remaining after Fall term, you’ll have 308 when Winter term begins. However, accounts are wiped clean before Fall terms, and everyone starts again with 225.

Print multiple PowerPoint slides to a single page

Printing professors’ slides for study purposes can quickly diminish print credit balance, make bi Multiple PowerPoint slides printed on a single page nders unwieldy and backpacks heavy, and waste the gifts from our arboreal friends. But if you are not ready to study from the slides in their digital form, you can print several on a single page and reduce your paper consumption considerably.

The key to do this is that you must ha Multiple slides on a single page ve the file in PowerPoint (extensions are .ppt and .pptx). The Print window in this program allows you to change from printing Slides to Handouts (see red arrow), and then to indicate how many Slides per page (see green box).

If the professor has saved the slide set to another format, try getting the same results by printing multiple Pages per Sheet. This is a printer setting, however. We talk about it in the Save paper by printing double-sided post. You can also request the professor makes the slides available in the original file format.

Ask for a librarian when you need research help

South Park librarian avatars

The library faculty are here to help you learn and discover effective ways to identify, access, and use information. Examples of common questions:

finding a couple articles that are “peer-reviewed” (and understanding what that means)
completing a citation for an article when you only have a title
finding images of landscapes by Chinese painters
citing a strange type of resource properly
finding primary sources regarding German agriculture before and after the industrial revolution. We love helping with wild questions like that. (Seriously, we do.)

Our public services desks are often staffed with our knowledgeable and customer-oriented library technicians and student employees. They answer questions regarding library information, resources, and technology, but they call a librarian to provide more complicated or in-depth assistance. You can always ask directly for the available librarian at the desk, or you can schedule an appointment with the librarian appropriate to your subject area. You can also consult subject or class-specific research guides compiled by librarians.