Online Article Access for Friends of the UCSC Library

The Friends of the UCSC Library is pleased to offer its members the ProQuest Research Library article database service.   This service, provided at no added charge to members, allows you to search for articles in thousands of journals and magazines covering a wide array of subjects, with many articles available in full-text online.

From business and political science to literature and psychology, ProQuest Research Library™ provides one-stop access to a wide range of popular academic subjects. The database includes more than 5,060 titles—over 3,600 in full text—from 1971 forward. It features a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers. This combination of general reference volume and scope makes it one of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases ProQuest has to offer.

To see whether the subjects and journals that interest you are included in this service, please visit ProQuest's titles & coverage matrix.

How to Sign-Up

The service is available to current members of the Friends of the UCSC Library and the UCSC Alumni Association:

• If you are already a member of the Friends of the UCSC Libary, complete a copy of the ProQuest User Agreement and send it to proquest@library.ucsc.edu.
• If you are not a current member of the Friends, you can join or renew online.

Members of the UCSC Alumni Association, can sign up by completing an online Alumni User Agreement.  For questions about Alumni Association membership and benefits, please go to http://alumni.ucsc.edu/ .

Using the ProQuest Research Library

Once you have completed the User Agreement, you will receive a ProQuest barcode and a link via email.   Please save the email for future reference.

• Your ProQuest barcode is unique and assigned to you for your individual use.  (Note: Your UCSC Library borrower ID is also called a "barcode" but the two are different and used for different purposes.)
• The link for the Proquest Research Library is http://search.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=32964&groupid=75657 (Note: As of July 2012, ProQuest updated their system and the service moved to this address.  If you received your barcode before this date, the link address you received at the time will not longer work.  Please update your bookmarks.)

Getting Help

For basic search help ...

• The ProQuest Reference Library starts up with a Basic Search screen that performs the broadest searches that will work for most purposes. 
• More precise searches are possible via the Advanced Search option. 
• Extensive help about system features is available by clicking on Search Tips.

ProQuest provides additional user aids ...

• ProQuest Research Library LibGuide http://proquest.libguides.com/pqrl
• YouTube videos

For problems connecting to the service ...

• Double-check you are using the correct ProQuest barcode
  • begins UCSC
  • not Library borrower ID (all numbers):
  • look up in your original email if you forgot your barcode
• Double-check you are using current link

- http://search.proquest.com/barcode?accountid=32964&groupid=75657

If problems continue, send email to proquest@library.ucsc.edu

For access to additional resources ...

The ProQuest Research Library provides access to a relatively small set of journal articles when compared with the array of services available to current UCSC students, faculty and staff.  This larger set of resources is available to anyone from the UCSC Library and other campus locations.  Many other UC libraries, as well as other academic research libraries, offer similar access.  However, we are contractually unable to offer remote or off-campus access to the larger set of resources to anyone except for current students, staff and faculty.  In the meantime we continue to look for ways to expand or improve the online services we can provide to our alumni and supporters.

For questions or problems with using the databases (search results or retrieving documents) ...

• try the Library's Ask-a-Librarian service