Included in tuition this semester is a student fee to improve the online resources in George A. Spiva library.

Sixty new online databases have been added to the library website, which will allow distance education students  to use library resources without commuting to campus.

Among the new additions, Summon allows students to search for ebooks and all of the databases at once.

“This is a great resource for students to use during their research,” Wendy McGrane, library director said, “[The new database] reduces the amount of time and gives them access to more information.”

Refworks helps students create a database of bibliographic information from every resource they’ve used in the library. The library has also added over 70,000 new ebooks to its online database as well as the New York Times historical digital archives, which contains cover-to-cover copies of every New York Times issue since 1851. “This is a fabulous addition to our collection,” McGrane said.

The additional information provided in the new online database is available to all students, faculty and staff. McGrane said the database was created to “improve resources for distance students, but in all actuality, all students benefit.