Library Collections
Books
Thomas Library houses approximately 440,000 volumes. To search the Library's collection, use our web based catalog at http://ezra.wittenberg.edu. You can search by author, title, keyword, call number, etc. Once you find a book in which you are interested, you can click on the title to see where it is located and if it is available for checkout. Most of the Library's books are located on the third floor of the main library.
Electronic Books (eBooks)
Thomas Library has access to over 135,000 electronic books. All of our online books are cataloged in EZRA and can be read on any device that has a web browser. If you are on the campus network, you should not have to do anything special in order to access them. If you are outside of campus network, you will need to enter your name and barcode number in order to have access to the text of the book.
Periodicals
Wittenberg University has access to almost 60,000 periodicals in print and electronic formats. A searchable list of all our periodical titles is available at http://www6.wittenberg.edu/lib/find/ejournals/. This will allow you to see what format and which dates are available for a particular journal title. If you need articles from journals that are not available at Wittenberg, please see the information on Inter-Library Loan.
Periodicals in Storage -- Some of our older and discontinued periodicals are held in Storage. If you need to use a periodical that is in Storage, please fill out a Retrieval Request form, available online and at the Circulation and Reference Desks. Turn in paper forms at the Circulation Desk. Stored periodicals are pulled every weekday by 10 a.m.
Circulation of Periodicals -- Generally Thomas Library does not circulate periodicals. However, faculty members may check out periodicals for 24 hours after talking with a Reference Librarian.
Audio Visual Materials
You can search for audio visual materials in EZRA. Simply go to EZRA and click on the Audio-Visuals button. You can limit your search to LP, CD, Cassette, VHS, DVD, or 16 mm film. LPs, CDs, and cassettes are in open stacks. VHS tapes, DVDs, and films are located in closed stacks. Please ask at the Circulation Desk for access to these materials.
To browse a specific type of audio visual material --
To see a list of all the videos owned by Thomas Library, go to EZRA and click on CALL#. Scroll down to find the search box for OTHER CALL NUMBER. Type in VHS. This will give you a list of all our videos. Similarly, typing DVD in the search box will retrieve a list of all the digital video discs, LP will find all the albums, and CD will find all the compact discs.
Indices
Book Review Index is currently the only print index that Thomas Library receives. It is located on the first floor just past the current periodicals.
We also have back runs of many indices for years that are not yet duplicated in database format. Please ask a reference librarian if you would like to use some of these older indices.
Databases
Wittenberg has access to over 200 databases and indices which cover a wide variety of topics. A large portion of these databases would not be available to us if not for our membership in OhioLINK. For a complete list of our online databases and indices please see our list of indexes and databases.
Archives
The archival collection in Thomas Library contains photos, documents, books, memorabilia etc. related to the history of Wittenberg University. Please talk to Suzanne Smailes if you are interested in seeing these materials. Phone 327-7020 or email ssmailes@wittenberg.edu.
Rare Books
Thomas Library has over 3000 items in its rare book collection. These items are included in EZRA, our online catalog. To use rare materials, fill out an online request or pick up a print Retrieval Request form at the Circulation or Reference Desk. Turn in paper forms to a Reference Librarian or at the Circulation Desk. Materials will be retrieved as soon as possible. Suzanne Smailes will call you when the materials are available for your use. Rare materials do not circulate outside of the Library. When you are finished with them please return them to the Circulation Desk.
Digital Resource Commons
From OhioLINK, the DRC is a collection of multi-media materials including satellite photos of Ohio, historic maps of Ohio, art images, architectural images, video clips of physics demonstrations and more! It is available at https://drc.ohiolink.edu/ .