Items are typically available within a few days if they are coming from a main campus library such as Robarts, Gerstein, UTM, or UTSC, or from the Downsview storage facility.
Items coming from other libraries may take about a week.
There is no weekend delivery.
You may track your requests in our catalogue, LibrarySearch.
The reason why the material cannot be supplied should be included in the email notification. Often, the reason is that material is not on the shelf, non-circulating, or has a number of holds on it already.
When you submitted your request, you were asked to select a hospital library. When your material has been shipped to this location, you will receive an email and can pick it up.
If a TCard is lost or stolen, the balance in your TBucks account is protected from the time the card is reported missing. Since funds will be saved to your online account instead of the chip on your TCard, balances from lost or stolen cards will be automatically transferred within 24 hours of the replacement card's issuance.
In the event your card is lost or stolen you can deactivate your card on the TCard+ website at: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/tcardplus/. Cards can also be deactivated by calling the TCard+ Office at 416-208-2233 (10 am - 4 pm, Monday – Friday). You must also report your TCard lost or stolen to the library so we can block it for use as a borrowing card.
Please note, for lost or stolen Guest Cards, there is a different process. Please see “Can users with Guest Cards check account balances and load funds online?” Instructions are also printed on the back of each Guest Card.
Yes. Make sure you have the colour printer selected before you send the print job.
For colour printouts it costs:
For black & white printouts (from the colour printer - in case you would like the thicker paper):
Food is restricted to cafeterias and designated lounge areas in most libraries.
The following areas in Robarts Library are food-friendly:
Drinks are allowed in most libraries.
Here is a list of currently available food establishments on the St. George campus.
Policies may vary at individual libraries.
Yes, this is possible. If you are looking for materials in the catalogue, you can use the 'Get It In Person' link, which is found once you have opened up a library item's record. You will be asked to login using your UTORid and password.
Please note that the full-text pdf does not export at the same time as the citation information from a database. This will be a separate step, using EndNote's Find Full-Text feature.
Once the citations are in your EndNote library:
Keep in mind:
See also the full EndNote guide
Our research guide for Mobile Health Science Resources lists free and paid mobile health resources like DynaMedPlus, ClinicalEvidence, and Micromedex. For more information, contact Gerstein Science Information Centre.
Mobile access to UpToDate is for current University of Toronto students and residents only. Here's how to access it.
Yes! We can suggest several strategies.
By signing in with your UTORid and password when you are using LibrarySearch, you are authenticated as a U of T user for the rest of your browser session. This allows you access to U of T licensed e-content, such as articles, databases, or e-books.
Install a browser extension called LibKey Nomad. It will link you to the PDF of articles owned by U of T or Open Access whether you start your search on the library's website or not.
Make sure Google Scholar knows you're a U of T user. Once you change your settings, you'll see "Get it! UTL" links next to articles in your search results.
If you have an e-resource bookmarked, make sure that the URL has http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url= at the front of it. That will authenticate you as a U of T user and give you access to our online content.
If you're on a journal or ebook website, try pasting http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url= in front of the URL you're currently on. You will be asked to log in with your UTORid.
This only works if the library actually subscribes to the journal. You can search our catalogue for the journal title or ask us for help.
Yes, however Write-N-Cite is now called ProQuest for Word.
You can find this extension within Microsoft Word. Click on the ‘ProQuest’ tab at the top of the screen, and log in with your RefWorks account.
As of May 8th, 2012*, this resource will only be available to students and medical residents via their UTORid & password.
If you are still having problems logging in, try these steps:
a) Make sure you are accessing the resource through the library's proxy server, access is thru the library catalogue record for UpToDate.
b) When you enter your UTORid and password, and then click on the "login" button, you arrive at a page that has another login box. Please ignore that - that is the login for personal subscribers. You are already in UpToDate and can enter your search terms in the search box in the upper left-hand corner.
c) If you are having problems with mobile access, review the more information page for UpToDate.
d) Still having difficulty logging in? If you are attempting access through one of the teaching hospitals, it may be an issue with firewalls. You can try accessing UptoDate from another computer.
If you are still unable to login after trying these steps, please contact us at ask.gerstein[at]utoronto.ca
*See more information about this change.
Please leave the books you don't need on a nearby table; our shelvers will take care of them.
If the system says that a book is available on your campus, you can't use the Request Item service to get it delivered. But sometimes books go missing even though the system reports that they are on the shelf. In this case, please speak to intercampus delivery staff about your request, or ask the library to search for the book.
Accessibility Services at the University of Toronto libraries offers students with disablities several services:
If you have a disability, please register with the University of Toronto Accessibility Services so that you can access their services. For full details about Accessibility Services, please visit our website.
Our new tool, LibrarySearch, searches for books, e-books, articles, journals, course reserves, DVDs and other audiovisual material, and other items in our collections all at once though a single user-friendly interface.
From the library homepage:
Once you are already in LibrarySearch:
You can choose to search just in the CATALOGUE, or just for ARTICLES. Choosing to search EVERYTHING searches both the catalogue and articles.
There are a few things that are not included in LibrarySearch, however.
Use the WebsiteSearch search box to look for content about the library and our services.
This includes:
WebsiteSearch does not search for books, articles, journals, audiovisual materials, and other content that the library owns or subscribes to. Use LibrarySearch instead.
Secondary sources comment on, collect, review, analyze, explain or interpret primary sources. Remember that not all secondary sources are scholarly.
| Discipline | Primary Source | Secondary Source |
| History | Letters written by a historical figure | A journal article explaining why the letters are important |
| Literature | A poem | A biography of the author that quotes from the poem as an example of his/her work |
| Medicine | An empirical study about the effects of physical activity on childhood obesity | A systematic review article about childhood obesity that mentions the study |
| Kinesiology | An empirical study comparing the lunch function of endurance athletes and bodybuilders | A blog post about what the results of this study means for practicing bodybuilders |
| Sociology | An interview study where teenagers talked about their use of mobile technology | A news report about the study's findings |
Robarts Library is shaped like a triangle. Each corner of floors 9-13 is referred to as an apex. They are named after the streets they overlook - St. George, Harbord and Sussex. Each apex has approximately 100 study spaces and four group study rooms.
Book lockers are small lockers where researchers may leave personal materials and books charged to their lockers for in-library use. They provide an alternative to those without carrels or assigned work-space in the library. Book lockers are available to applicants in all of the priorities covered by the policies.
Book lockers are located on some of the stack floors (9-13).
Lockers are desks with attached lockable boxes where students may leave study materials. Lockers are located in the Quiet Study area on the main floor.
Boolean is a set of commands that can be used in almost every search engine, database, or online catalogue. The most popular Boolean commands are AND, OR, and NOT. Other commands include parentheses, truncation, and phrases.
Using the Boolean command AND in your search tells the search engine to give you results that contain all of the words you have entered.
media AND violence: only those results that contain both media and violence will appear in your search results list.
Using Boolean command OR in your search tells the search engine to give you results that contain any of the words you have entered.
teenagers OR adolescents: any results that contain either teenagers or adolescents will appear in your results list.
Using Boolean command NOT in your search tells the search engine to give you results that contain the word(s) you entered except the word following NOT.
Psychology NOT Developmental: any results that contain the word "psychology" will appear in your results list except those results that also contain the word "developmental".
Capitalize your Boolean commands. Some databases only accept these operators when they are capitalized.
Carrels are private, lockable study rooms. Researchers who need to be close to library resources, or those who need a quiet work space, may request a carrel for personal use.
Books may be signed out to the carrel with a separate borrowing card. PCs and laptop computers may be used in all carrels and all carrels have access to the wireless network. Some carrels have docking port access to the University network.
Carrels are located on the stack floors (9-13) around the periphery of the floors.
Carrels are located on the 2nd floor, towards the south end of the library.
Carrels are located on the third floor.
Reference books and reference sources are not meant to be read cover to cover. They are used to locate specific facts and background information.
Examples of reference books or reference sources include dictionaries and encyclopedias; however, there are many kinds of reference works in a library collection, as this table illustrates.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
|
Almanacs |
An annual publication of practical dates, facts, and statistics, current and/or historic. Example: The Military Balance |
|
Atlases |
A bound or boxed collection of maps, usually related in subject or theme, with an index of place names usually printed at the end. Example: Historical Atlas of Hasidism |
|
Bibliographies |
A publication that lists written works by a specific author or on a given topic, or that share one or more common characteristics (language, time period, place of publication, etc.). Example: Rap/Hip Hop: Oxford Bibliographies |
|
Biographical sources |
Works that describe the life of people who share one or more common characteristics (identity, profession, place, time, ect.). Example: Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History |
|
Catalogues / catalogs |
An organized list of items in a collection, an exhibition, or other intentional gathering of materials. This work often provides brief item-level descriptions of physical or other relevant characteristics. Example: A Catalogue of Greek Manuscripts |
|
Concordances |
An alphabetically arranged list of the principal words or selected words in a text, or in the works of an author, giving the precise location of each word in the text, with a brief indication of its context. Example: A Concordance of the Qur’an |
|
Dictionaries |
A single or multi-volume work that contains brief explanatory entries for terms related to a specific subject or field of inquiry. Entries are usually arranged alphabetically.. Example: Oxford English Dictionary |
|
Directories |
A list of people, companies, institutions, organizations, etc., often in alphabetical order, that provides contact information and other relevant details. Example: The Grants Register 2022 |
|
Encyclopedias |
A book or set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by heading. Example: Women and Gender in Medieval Europe |
|
Glossaries |
A publication providing an alphabetically arranged list of specialized vocabulary of a given subject or field of study, with brief definitions. Example: Glossary of Morphology |
|
Handbooks |
Single-volume publications that provide concise factual information on a specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access. |
|
Indexes |
An alphabetically arranged list of headings consisting of the people, places, and subjects covered in a written work, with page numbers to refer the reader to the point in the text at which information pertaining to the heading is found. In large multi-volume reference works, the last volume may be devoted entirely to indexes. Example: See any multi-volume reference work |
|
Style Guides |
Resources that describe a set rules and guidelines for writing in a variety of contexts. These works include descriptions of how to cite, how to format a paper or a reference page, what font to use, what size that font should be, and much more. Example: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) |
Note: This list of reference works by type is not exhaustive. Please use LibrarySearch to discover others types and formats.