The University of Alabama in Huntsville's M. Louis Salmon Library is committed to providing library services and resources to distance education students comparable to those services provided for on-campus students. Every reasonable effort will be made to ensure that students enrolled in distance education courses at UAH will have access to sufficient library resources and services.
While online students might not physically set foot on the campus of UAH or inside Salmon Library, our goal is to make sure they have as much access to research resources as possible. This is directly in line with the American Libraries Associations goal for distance learners in higher education; “All students, faculty members, administrators, staff members, or any other members of an institution of higher education are entitled to the library services and resources of that institution, including direct communication with the appropriate library personnel, regardless of where they are physically located in relation to the campus; where they attend class in relation to the institution’s main campus; or the modality by which they take courses. Academic libraries must, therefore, meet the information and research needs of all these constituents, wherever they may be. This principle of access entitlement, as applied to individuals at a distance, is the undergirding and uncompromising conviction of the Standards for Distance Learning Library Services, hereinafter designated as the Standards (ALA, 2014).” This is the standard we strive for and meet at UAH Salmon Library.
Distance students will have access to print material through Interlibrary Loan, e-books, remote access through databases, reference assistance through phone, email, and chat as well as information literacy instruction through self-paced tutorials on general and specific topics. This is all accessed through the UAH Library website and thorough this guide. The designated online learning librarians will also be available to talk, chat, advise and set up virtual or phone reference appointments. If neither of the designated librarians are available, the reference staff will field their inquiries. Through this personal and thorough procedure, UAH Salmon Library attempts to make available all the research resources which are already available for on-campus researchers.
Do you want to meet with a librarian one-on-one? Would it help to schedule some time to get help (about selecting a research topic for your next assignment, or finding the best resources for your paper, etc.)? CLICK HERE to schedule a research consultation with a UAH librarian. (For more information about these appointments, see the library's One-on-One Research Consultations page.)
Library Catalog
Remote Access to Databases
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Online Learning students will need to login to access the library's licensed databases and E-Books.
The user name is the beginning of your UAH email up to the @ sign (example: abc0001) and your password is the same password that you use for MyUAH, Canvas, and other UAH online services.
Dissertations and Theses
Please check our Theses & Dissertation guide.
For further assistance please contact the Research Help Desk (link to Library FAQs page, where you can submit a question or find contact information for the Research Help Desk).
Online Reference Questions
Librarians are available to advise researchers on appropriate databases, books, indexes and other research tools. There are a number of ways that you can contact the Research Help Desk:
Interlibrary Loan Services (ILL)
Current UAH students, staff and faculty may request articles and books from other libraries. Click here to login to the request forms.
For additional information, please see our Interlibrary Loan Guide.
ILL for Distance Learning Students (Undergraduate and Graduate)
Article Requests
We will order articles that you request via Tipasa (our Interlibrary Loan software) and send them to you via your UAH email. If you live within 30 miles of the UAH campus and the journal is available in print at the Salmon Library, you will need to come to the library and either read, scan or photocopy the article.
If you live more than 30 miles from the UAH campus we will scan the article and deliver it to you via your UAH email.
Please put in the Notes section of your request that you are a Distance Learning student.
Book Requests
If you live less than 30 miles from the UAH campus, you will need to come to the library to check out the books.
if you live more than 30 miles from the UAH campus, we can check out books belonging to the Salmon Library and ship them to you via U.S. Postal Service. You will be responsible for the cost of mailing the books back to the library when they are due.
We will not be able to borrow books for you from another library due to the time that it takes to send and receive the books from the lending library. We recommend that you contact your nearest library and place an interlibrary loan.
Please put in the Notes section of your request that you are a Distance Learning student.
ILL for Off Campus Faculty and Staff
Article Requests
We will order articles that you request vai ILLiad and send them to you via your UAH email. If the article can be found in one of the library's print journals, we will scan it and send it to you via your UAH email. Please put in Notes section of your request that you are off campus.
Book Requests
If the book belongs to the Salmon Library we will check the book out to you and ship it you via U.S. Postal Service. You will be responsible for the cost of mailing the book back to the library when it is due. Please put in the Notes section of your request that you are off campus.
We will not be able to borrow books for you from another library due to the time it take to send and receive the books from the lending library. We recommend that you contact your nearest library to place an interlibrary loan.