Beloit College Library Off-Campus & Study Abroad Services

• Off-Campus Access to Licensed Resources (Proxy)

• Help from Beloit College Library Staff

• Finding Information about Countries

• Libraries at Study Abroad Host Universities and Tips for Anticipating Library Differences

• Beloit College Office of International Education, Study Abroad Page

Off-Campus Access to Licensed Resources (Proxy)

Current students, faculty, and staff may access most of the library's licensed research databases from off-campus via the Beloit College proxy server. See the Browser Configuration for Proxy Clients instructions for more information.

Help from Beloit College Library Staff

• Email - Send email to the Library Refererence staff if you have questions or need help.
  
• Phone - Call the Reference Desk at 608-363-2544.
  
• Fax - Send a fax message to the Library at 608-363-2487.

Reference staff are available most hours the library is open, and can usually reply to email within 24 hours on week days. We can help you with your searching, go over options for delivery of full text documents and library loans, refer you to other helpful Library or College staff, and more.

See also the Library Services information and Library Staff Directory.

Finding Information About Countries

The following web sites are useful for background information and news. For additional information, consult the library resources below.

CIA World Factbook - Facts about countries.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online - Encyclopedia articles and useful web links.

U.S. Department of State - Travel and living abroad information. See Background Notes for country profiles.

ABYZ News Links - Links to news sites and newspapers from countries around the world.

News and Newspapers Online - Another site with news links worldwide.

Modern Languages Multimedia Center - Links to foreign language radio and news, and Department of Modern Languages and Literature video collection.

Beloit College Library Home Page - Search BELCAT Library Catalog, article databases, and more.

Ask a Librarian - Send a question via email. Most inquiries are answered within 24 hours.

Libraries at Study Abroad Host Universities and Tips for Anticipating Library Differences

Beloit College Study Abroad Programs

Also see links to libraries around the world on Libweb.

China - Henan University or Shandong University

China - Hong Kong - Lingnan University

Ecuador - University of San Francisco de Quito, Quito and Galapagos Islands

Estonia / Morocco - Tartu University / Arabic Language Institute in Fez

Germany - University of Erfurt

Hungary - Eotvos Lorand University

Japan - Kansai Gaidai University

Morocco - Al Akhawayn University

Russia - Russian State University for the Humanities

Senegal - Africa Consultants International (ACI/Baobab Center)

Turkey - Bilgi University

Anticipating Library Differences

If you will be studying abroad, you should begin to explore library resources at a program site at the same time you apply to the program. The kind of academic work you do abroad will be affected by local library resources. These resources may be better or worse than at Beloit, but in all cases, they are likely to be different from what you are accustomed to. This site lists links to libraries at the locations where Beloit College has programs. Explore these sites now. In some cases, you will simply find out that there is a library at the location, in others you will find out what kind of holdings a library has. If you do not already read the language of the country you will study in, you may not be able to read the information posted on the site. If the site yields little information about the library, or if you have never used a library in another country, we would suggest you do the following:

1) Talk to a faculty member who has conducted research in the country about what to expect in terms of library facilities and holdings;

2) Talk to a student from the country, or a student who studied abroad there, about library facilities and holdings;

3) Based on such conversations, think about books you may want to take with you or have sent to you. Think also about how you will approach the academic work you want to undertake given local library facilities and holdings; and

4) Explore now the possibilities for contacting the library at Beloit College while you are abroad. Will you be able to use the proxy server? Will you be able to contact a librarian by email?

Also consider:

Library facilities may be very different from those at Beloit in terms of how catalogs are organized, books are organized (some may be in closed stacks), or the kind of access you have to books (you may only be able to read books in the library, instead of checking them out to take home);

Library hours may be quite different. Libraries may close earlier in the day than at Beloit, and they may not be open on weekends;

The library you use while abroad may not have an electronic catalog, or even any electronic facilities; and available texts may be older or out-of-date.