Engineering Research Guide

Have questions about CatSearch or having trouble logging in? Check out the CatSearch guide for answers.

There are different ways to access the full text of an article. 

• Library Homepage (CatSearch)
  • Enter your search terms.
  • The search results will contain a full text available link if the article is located in one of our databases.
  • Click the link in order to open the article.
  • If we do not have the article, then a "Request It!" link will show in the CatSearch record so you can request the article through interlibrary loan (ILL).

• Individual Databases
  • Enter your search terms.
  • The search results will include a full text link to either an HTML or PDF document if the full text is available.
  • If the text is not available in that database, a "Check MSU Availability" link will let you search the other databases for that article.
  • If we do not have the article, then a "Request It!" link will show in the CatSearch record so you can request the article through interlibrary loan (ILL).

The MSU Library provides interlibrary loan (ILL) services for current students, faculty, staff, and affiliates.  Unfortunately, we are unable to provide this to alumni, retirees, or the general public.

ILL is an agreement to borrow from and loan to other libraries. You can request books (no current semester textbooks), articles, video or audio recordings, government documents, theses/dissertations, conference proceedings, patents, and newspapers. 

If we can find a source, we’ll try to get it!

Most article requests take 2-3 business days while most loan requests take 3-7 business days.