Show All FAQs
1. Can I borrow reserve material?
The Reserve Collection contains books and printed notes which have been submitted by instructors for consultation by their students for 2-hour periods within the Library only. Registered users of the Library are permitted to consult a single reserve item for up to 2 hours within the Library. If the item has not been requested by another user, the consultation period may be extended for a further 2 hours.
2. Can I search electronic indexes and full-text electronic journal articles from off-campus?
Only Bilkent users can access the Library’s electronic resources from outside the campus, by obtaining a VPN (Virtual Private Network) password from the relevant address on the website.
3. Can users access the internet within the Library from their laptops?
Yes. Wireless access is available in both Main and East Campus libraries. Bilkent University members should obtain a VPN (Virtual Private Network) password from the relevant address in order to use this service. Outside users can obtain a daily VPN password by completing a request form at one of the following locations:
- A Block Circulation Desk
- A Block Reference Room
- A Block Current Periodicals Room
4. Does the Library have any electronic reserve items?
Yes. This Class Notes box is on the Library Main Page and can be searched by course code or by instructor’s name. Due to copyright laws, e-reserve material can only be accessed from within the Bilkent campus network.
5. How can I access theses prepared at Bilkent University?
You should click Library Catalog on the Library’s home-page. Master’s and doctoral theses prepared before September 2000 are only available in print format; those dating from September 2000 and later may be available in electronic format if the authors gave their permission.
6. How can I search the Library catalog?
The library catalog can be searched by visiting the Library Catalog web page or using the OPAC terminals located on each floor of the Library. The catalog can be searched by author, title, subject, series, etc.
7. How do I access electronic books?
Many E-books can be searched using the Library Catalog, in the same way as print books. The call numbers of the electronic books start with phrase “E-BOOK”. In the list of search results, you should choose the relevant title from the list to see detailed information about the book. In order to view the full text of the book, click on the web-link. E-Books also can be searched E-books can also be found via Quick Search by selecting Electronic Books from the Research menu.
8. How do I find an article published in a particular electronic journal?
You should select E-Journals on the Library’s home-page. Then, you can type the name of the journal in the “Find” field. In order to find a particular volume and/or article, you should then choose the publication date.
9. How do I submit an item to the reserve department?
Items can be placed on reserve by completing the “Reserve Request Form”. Please consult the special reserve rules.
10. How does open access benefits the researchers?
For researchers, open access brings increased visibility, usage and impact for their work. A number of studies have now been carried out on the effect of open access on citations to articles, showing the increased citation impact that open access can bring. Open access repositories also provide an excellent means for researchers to boost their online presence and raise their profile.
11. Is open access compatible with copyright?
Completely. The short answer is that copyright law gives the copyright holder the right to make access open or restricted, and we seek to put copyright in the hands of authors or institutions that will consent to make access open. The long answer depends on whether we are talking about open access journals or open access repositories.
12. Is open access compatible with peer review?
Completely. We seek open access for peer-reviewed literature. The only exception is for preprints, which are put online prior to peer review but which are intended for peer-reviewed journals at a later stage in their evolution. Peer review is medium-independent, as necessary for online journals as for print journals, and no more difficult. Self-publishing to the internet, which bypasses peer review, is not the kind of open access that we seek or endorse.
13. Is open access compatible with print?
Completely. Open access is online access, but it does not exclude print access to the same works. Open access is free of charge to readers, but it does not exclude priced access to print versions of the same works. (Because print editions are expensive to produce, they tend to be priced rather than free.) Open access does not exclude printouts by users or print archives for security and long-term preservation. For some publishers, print will exclude open access, but the reverse need never occur.
14. Isn’t author self-archiving good enough?
Author self-archiving is becoming an important part of the scholarly communication process. The Library supports repository, including DSpace@Bilkent which authors can post their accepted manuscripts. Most author self-archiving initiatives, however, do not post the version of the research as formally published. The University appreciates and values the contributions that publishers add to the scholarly communication system.
15. What can I do if I want to see the electronic version of a journal?
To see whether electronic access is available from Bilkent University Library, you should click on E-Journals which is under Finding Resources buton on the Library’s home-page. Then, you can type the the name of a journal in the “Find” field to check on the electronic version of that journal.