Services for Online & Distance Users

Distance Options for Accessing Materials

As a current University of Washington student, faculty or staff, there are many options for accessing UW Libraries materials if you are not able to come to campus.

Finding Electronic Items

Most of the Libraries' databases, electronic journals and eBooks are restricted to only current UW students, faculty and staff. When accessing from off campus, use your NetID to sign in. If you experience problems when attempting to login, you may try changing browsers or visit Off-Campus Help & Support to learn about troubleshooting.

  • Find electronic materials using the main UW Libraries Search. Filter your results to only electronic items available online.

If you would like to obtain an item that is not available electronically, several options are available below.

Article Scan Service

  • Interlibrary Loan Article Scan is a free service for obtaining PDF scans of articles and select book chapters. If an article is only available in print, or is owned by a different library, you can request the Libraries scan this article and deliver it to you as a PDF. This service is also available for book chapters not owned by the UW Libraries. To use this service, set up your Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Account and use the "Request an article scan" button in the UW Libraries Search.

Borrow from a Non-UW Library

  • Orbis-Cascade Alliance (Summit) Libraries. In the UW Libraries Search you may see an option to "Request via Summit." UW Libraries belongs to the Orbis-Cascade Alliance (Summit), a group of academic libraries in the Pacific Northwest with a mutual borrowing agreement. See the list of Alliance Libraries to find out if there is one near you. If you live near a Summit Library you may be eligible to borrow materials directly from them and have UW Libraries materials sent to that library for free. Contact the Summit library about local requirements for using their borrowing services as a UW user.