Beginning this Friday, April 18, 2025, the operating hours for the virtual Ask A Librarian (AAL) chat service will change due to the loss of federal grant funding which supported evening and weekend service.
Moving forward, virtual assistance will be available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — times when our UCF librarians are available to provide expert help directly.
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The Ask A Librarian Featured Question series answers the most commonly asked question of the previous month. June 2021 focuses on patent & trademark research with the question “How can the John C. Hitt Library help me with Patent and Trademark research?”
The video that was here is out of date and has been archived. Click here to download the video for viewing.
The John C. Hitt Library at the University of Central Florida is a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) and is one of three in the state of Florida. The other two are in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.
This service is available to all UCF affiliated persons and all members of the public. Our PTRC representative is Librarian Missy Murphey. She can help you with how to use search tools to access patents and trademark information. Please note that she cannot provide legal advice.
We have very helpful libguides chock-full of great information you can take a look at:
You can also schedule an appointment to meet one-on-one with Missy to learn how to use the search tools.
“What does it mean when an item comes up as being in the Location: UCF ARC MAIN General Collection or UCF ARC MAIN Media?”
The video that was here is out of date and has been archived. Click here to download the video for viewing.
ARC stands for Automated Retrieval Center. It is the building behind the Circulation desk and has bins three stories high that contains a large number of the library’s print collection and all DVDs. When a request is placed on an item in the ARC Circulation staff will retrieve items and hold them at the desk for check out.
In the catalog click under the item information you will see a link: Place a Hold
Click on the link and log in with your NID and password. Near the bottom of the screen click on the button to Place Request. You will be emailed by Circulation when your item(s) are ready for check out.
This process usually takes an hour or less.
For more information, take a look at our ARC page: library.ucf.edu/21st/arc/
Or take a look at the ARC in action through the windows on the 3rd floor or in the video below.
For April we look at a frequent question, “How do I renew books?”
To renew both books checked out from UCF Libraries or books checked out through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) you will need to go to the My Account page https://library.ucf.edu/my-account/
UCF Libraries books can be renewed by clicking on the Catalog Login button under the Library Catalog Account. Log in with your NID and password and on the next page look for the loans/renewals button. Click the Renew button next to the title you want to renew or to renew all click on the Renew all UCF items button.
Interlibrary Loan books can be renewed by clicking on the ILLiad Login button under Interlibrary Loan. Click on the Login button on the next page and enter in your NID and password. Look for the menu on the left and under View click on the link: Checked Out Items. Click on the transaction number by the book you want to renew. Click Renew Request at the top of the screen.
The video that was here is out of date and has been archived. Click here to download the video for viewing.
Our featured question this month is: “How do I find peer reviewed articles?”
There’s lots of options to use. In the center of the library homepage, you can use QuickSearch, search using the Articles tab, or the Database button to select a specific database that covers your subject area.
QuickSearch searches many of our databases. Enter in your search terms, search, and on left side of the screen select Scholarly Journals/Peer Reviewed. This option does pull from all Libraries’ resources, not just articles.
The Articles tab works similarly to QuickSearch but limits the search to articles only with a default selection of “Full Text Online.” You can even limit by publication date.
Database search screens may look different. Look over the page to find the Peer Reviewed option.
We have a Peer Reviewed or Refereed Scholarly Journals guide that explains what peer reviewed and scholarly articles are and suggests databases used to find them.
You can view this short video from UCF Libraries “How to Find Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles” that contains what peer reviewed articles are and how to search for them here: