News & Blog

Welcome to the third installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

Whether you’re visiting the John C. Hitt library or simply walking through, you’ve probably noticed the latest exhibit on the art wall, as well as several exhibit cases. This display depicts the Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year exhibit, and will be up until the end of January!

To join the festivities, UCF Library has curated a Chinese New Year exhibit, displaying information about the celebration, customs and traditions, Chinese astrology, and art pieces!

As you walk by the art wall, take a second to interact with the graphics! The posters ask you to stick a dot under your Chinese astrology sign, corresponding to the year you were born.

The UCF Library also had a “Make your own Chinese New Year lantern” on Friday, January 20, 2023, from 10 a.m. to noon. During this event, we came together to ring in the Chinese New Year by making decorative paper lanterns!

Visit STARS Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Lunar New Year to read the description of the festival and how UCF Library intends to celebrate with students!

Third Floor

We are so excited that we can finally share an announcement with our UCF community! Please join us on Monday, February 27, 2023 for the grand opening of your all new third floor at the John C Hitt Library. At 10am, a treasure hunt will be hosted for students to assist them in wayfinding on the floor with a grand prize of a limited-edition duck to the first 300 participants.

Collections

The reference book collection from the second floor will be relocated to the third floor near room 330. Current periodicals will also be found on this floor as well as an exciting collection of board games and puzzles by room 360. Please note that all items including the reference books, periodicals, board games, and puzzles are for in library use only. None of these items can be checked out and removed from the library building.

Looking forward to seeing everyone as we explore our latest renovations together on February 27, 2023.

Welcome to the second installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

The cost of textbooks and course materials is a significant but often overlooked barrier to affording a degree. Being able to afford your textbook could be the difference between dropping a course and taking as many as possible. UCF’s Textbook Affordability Initiative is designed to minimize the cost of course materials for students while maintaining quality and respecting academic freedom.

There’s just one problem: few of us even know this program exists. Below, I give you everything you need to know to find out what free textbooks are available to you!

Continuing on our streak of making college materials cheaper and easier to access, the textbook affordability initiative helps students gain access to both hard-copy materials and eTextbooks. Using this program, you can often save yourself the effort of hunting down high-priced materials.

Simply fill out known information in the eTextbook portal or a one-page request, and you’ve increased your chances of gaining free and legal access to your course’s required material.

I had the opportunity to speak to Lily Dubach, UCF’s Textbook Affordability Librarian, and she shared with me a few pointers that make selecting classes to enroll in much easier. You can use this method to identify whether your course has a costly required material before you’ve even enrolled!

If you’d like to know how to do this, and check out my step-by-step guide that shows you exactly how to locate or request the materials you need!

Hello, everyone! My name is Diamond Williams; I am a second- year double- majoring in Criminal Justice and Writing & Rhetoric. Welcome to the first installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Services (ILL/DDS)

If you’ve attended the University of Central Florida (UCF) for long, chances are you’ve heard someone mention “ILL” or “loan services” in passing. From professors to library staff themselves, the ILL department is incredibly popular, but remains an under-utilized resource for students! Below, I give you a simplified run-down of the ILL department and the service you should be making use of before you graduate.

There is nothing more terrifying than being asked to locate full PDFs of research articles or primary sources for a class assignment. Maybe you’re the type of person who spends hours scouring the internet for a free version of a journal issue or book chapter. Maybe you look for sites you could purchase from. If either of these things sounds familiar, you can end this needless and costly search by making use of UCF’s ILL services.

The ILL department processes virtual requests for materials from other libraries and our own in-house collection.

This means you* can request and receive free books, articles & more with just a few clicks of your mouse!

*If you are a UCF retiree, a currently enrolled student, staff, or faculty member.

ILL services save you time, energy, and money by doing all the hard work for you.

By filling out a one-page request (a step you can skip by finding the material on the UCF library website first), you’ve avoided all the hassle of finding ineffective versions of the document you need.

I created a step-by-step guide that shows you exactly how to request, track, and view the materials you need!

If you want to contact the office for inquiries, call 407-823-2383 or email illbor@ucf.edu.

Join us each week this semester to learn about your library. First up we will detail which services and resources are available on each floor of the John C Hitt Library located on the Orlando campus, starting with the first floor.

First Floor

The first floor is partially underground so there are no public exits and one must go upstairs to the second floor to enter or exit the building. Most of the first floor has been recently refurbished and houses many collections and resources. For an online map of this floor, visit https://library.ucf.edu/maps/.

Restrooms

Restrooms are located near the newer section by the study rooms.

Join us next week when we cover what you will find on the second floor of the Hitt Library!