Ladies and gentlemen, there is an astounding resource humming at your very fingertips. It gives you access to free databases, statewide library catalogs, and interlibrary loans which boldly go where no loans have gone before. There are auto-repair manuals, ebooks, newspaper articles, Ebsco journals, job searches, business information, and teeming hordes of other resources available to you.
Allow me to introduce you to LiLI (libraries linking Idaho).
LiLI is, and I quote:
a group of projects and services that bring networked library service to the residents of Idaho. Idahoans will be familiar with the LiLI Portal where users can search the statewide library catalog, read magazine and newspaper articles, and even find auto-repair help. In addition to those statewide services, LiLI fosters collaboration among libraries for interlibrary sharing, keeping up with technology trends, and developing cooperative services among libraries. (from libraries.idaho.gov)
What projects and services do they offer, exactly? Amongst those listed above, there is one to which I would especially like to draw your attention: their databases.
Observe the lili.org home page. An easy way to access their databases is to click on the “College +” link, which I have helpfully highlighted.
You will arrive here, at a list of resources and databases they have found particularly useful to students college level and above. Of particular interest to us:
Academic Search Premier: An Ebsco database. Scholarly, multidiscipline, full text database for academic research. Covers the academic disciplines being offered in colleges and universities.
NoveList: Find fiction reading recommendations for all ages. Search by book title, author, genre, or key plot points. Find information about a book series and discussion guides for book groups.
Religion and Philosophy Collection: Another Ebsco database. Scholarly content for researchers and students of theology and philosophical studies.
When you click on these or any other databases, LiLI will ask you for your zip code and city, after which you have free access.
This is fantastic news, especially to those of us who have been longing for access to Ebsco without having to physically plant ourselves in a chair at the U of I library. And, in addition to their databases, LiLI also allows you to see the catalogs of libraries all over the state – which, if you are looking for the one uber-specialized book nobody around here carries, is another invaluable resource.
Take advantage of this opportunity! Go! Fight! Win!
Tyndale Library 