Yes, if you encounter an article behind a pay wall you should always ask the library for help accessing the material.
Checking to see if the library has access to specific content is something that librarians are very skilled at doing and it typically only takes them a minute or two to do so. These types of questions are easily answered in person, over chat, or by emailing asklib@washjeff.edu. So if you are short on time or a less confident researcher, just ask a librarian for help.
If you are a confident researcher, you can check the library's periodical (a library term that means something that is published on a repeating schedule, like a magazine, newspaper, or scholarly journal) holdings to see if we have access to the title you are interested in. This can be done two different ways.
- First, try copying the title of the article and then pasting it in to the library's Discovery search tool.
- Second, if you know the name of the publication the article appears in you can use the "Find Periodicals" search tool. This tool can be accessed by clicking the "Find Periodicals" tab on the library homepage. Searching for the publication title (ex: Nature, Sports Illustrated, New York Times), not the article title, will show you if the library has access to that periodical and if so what dates we have access to and in which databases. If we have coverage during the time your articles was published, click on the database title and then navigate to the issue your article appeared in. The following screenshots illustrate this process:
If we cannot provide access from within our library subscriptions, then we can help you request the article through interlibrary loan service.
Fill out the form with the citation information for the article and we will attempt to get a copy from another library. The more information you include on the form the easier it will be for the ILL staff to find your article.
Article request are usually fulfilled electronically and will be emailed to you within 3-5 days. Once you receive a PDF of the article, it is yours to keep forever. There is no need to "return" it.