LibGuides: Information for Faculty, SPS, Staff: Finding Course Content

Finding Course Content

Use library resources to find e-books, articles, and streaming video that can be accessed online. Remember to authenticate with your z-ID/z-ID and password to access electronic resources. Also check out our lists of open educational resourecs (OERs).

For assistance, view our online tutorials, Chat with a Librarian through chat, or contact your subject specialist.

Faculty, staff and students may suggest a purchase by contacting their subject specialist librarian. If you don’t have a subject specialist librarian, you can submit your requests to lib-admin@niu.edu. Preference will be given to purchasing materials which directly support teaching, research and artistry at Northern Illinois University.

Books and EBooks

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Ebook Central -- This electronic book package includes more than 150,000 individual texts covering a vast array of academic subjects and disciplines. The database boasts a distinguished set of publishers including such university presses as Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Harvard, etc. The content of the database is well paired with an advanced set of tools that allows for expansive searching capabilities, and manipulation and storage of text.
eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
This database offers access to digitized books, including all of the titles produced by the Guttenberg Project. In addition, the University Libraries offers access to some 1,500 titles in business, computer science, and general reference.

HuskieSearch for Ebooks
Search by title, author, or ISBN for ebooks available through NIU Libraries.
HuskieSearch Library Catalog
Find books and ebooks in NIU Libraries.

Article Databases

Library Subject Guides
Discipline specific resources and specialized databases.
NIU A-Z Database Index

Primary Sources

Primary Source Resources in English
Links to resources
Primary Source Resources in History
Links to resources
NIU Digital Library
Contains materials from Rare Books & Special Collections and the Regional History Center and University Archives, as well as collaborative projects like Lincoln/Net and Mark Twain's Mississippi.

Streaming Video

For help using the resources below, view our tutorials or contact your subject specialist.

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Features a single, fully integrated platform, offering access to tens of thousands of full-length streaming video titles. Virtually every video in the collection is fully transcribed in addition to being indexed for subjects, people, places, release date, language, publisher, and video type. As a result, students and scholars can combine keyword and fielded search capabilities to frame creative and highly targeted queries. Users can also select to view a single video collection by using the dropdown menu at the top of the homepage of Academic Video Online.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Kanopy - furnishes more than 30,000 streaming video titles for a broad variety of academic disciplines. An annual subscription is available on request for $150 per title. Owing to expense only faculty requests for mandatory class assignments will be honored. Students who generate a Kanopy request will be directed to contact their instructor.
Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new window
Streaming video access to more than 25,000 titles from major Hollywood studios, independent filmmakers and international film companies. Faculty may request individual films for required classroom usage, but must first create a one-time faculty profile. To create a faculty profile, please go to the vendor's site and click on "Login."