Frequently Asked Questions

Visitors to the UMKC campus can connect to campus wifi with a guest password. 

• Network: UMKCWPA
• Username: UMKC-visitor
• Password: The guest password is reset weekly.

Stop by a library service desk for the current week’s password, or contact the UMKC IS Technology Support Center at (816) 235-2000 for the password.

For device-specific instructions, see UMKC Wireless Connectivity.

Alumni are welcome at the Miller Nichols Library. Everyone using the libraries must follow the Safe & Respectful Environment policy. 

• Alumni and retirees may visit the first floor Service Desk for a 2-hour guest login to a computer. Valid photo ID required.
• Guest printing is not available.
• Guests at the library can connect to UMKC wifi with a guest password, but it does not provide access to electronic library resources.
• Contributing Members of the UMKC Alumni Association can borrow library materials at the Miller Nichols Library. Show your Alumni Fund card at the library Service Desk.

Yes, non-UMKC users are welcome at the Miller Nichols Library. Everyone using the libraries must follow the Safe & Respectful Environment policy. 

• Our Community Services page lists all of the ways you can use the Libraries, including privileges for groups affiliated with UMKC. 
• Visitors to Miller Nichols Library may visit the first floor Service Desk for a 2-hour guest login to a computer. Valid photo ID required.
• Guest printing is not available.
• Guests at the library can connect to the UMKC wifi with a guest password, but it does not provide access to electronic library resources.

Yes, students, staff, or faculty affiliated with a UM System school are welcome to use Miller Nichols Library.

• Log on to a public computer on the UMKC campus with your UM System username and password. 
• Printing is not available.
• Log in to the eduroam wifi network using your UM System username and password, in the form of username@umsystem.edu. 
• Borrow books and other materials from the UMKC Libraries by visiting a service desk. Photo ID required. 
• To have materials from other UM System Libraries delivered to the UMKC Library, or to request retrieval of books stored in the UMKC Library’s robotic storage unit, place requests in the UM System Libraries catalog.

For assistance with a UMKC campus computer or wifi, contact UMKC Information Services at (816) 235-2000.

Yes, the Robot Cafe in Miller Nichols Library sells food and beverages including a variety of coffee drinks.

The Robot Cafe is open for a portion of the library's open hours when classes are in session: Robot Cafe hours. Vending machines in Miller Nichols Library and the School of Medicine Building (where the Health Sciences Library is located) also offer some coffee drinks. 

Classrooms 151, 351, 352, 451, and 452 are in the Miller Nichols Learning Center (MNLC), which is connected to the Miller Nichols Library building. Classrooms 114, 121, 325, 420, and 422 are in the Miller Nichols Library. View the Miller Nichols Library Floor Plan map or the Health Sciences Library Floor Plan map to find the location of study rooms or classrooms.

Click a Download or Download PDF or button or link if one is present on the eBook page you are looking at. 

Read the PDF on your computer as usual, or download Adobe Digital Editions for free to read a PDF or EPUB file as an eBook while offline.

If you have any questions about the initial setup of your device for downloading books or any problems downloading, please contact us or consult our eBook guide.

Yes, headphones, phone chargers, and other equipment are available for checkout at the library Service Desks. The headphones do not include microphones. See all the equipment available for checkout at Miller Nichols Library and the Health Sciences Library. 

Yes! The computers on the first and second floors of Miller Nichols Library have built-in webcams that pop up from the top of the monitor. Bring your own headphones and microphone. 

Headphones without microphones are available to borrow at the service desks on the first floor of Miller Nichols Library and in the Health Sciences Library.

At Miller Nichols Library, the computer in the Presentation Practice Room MNL 108A has a webcam. The room can be reserved up to one week in advance. Reserve the Presentation Practice room online.

To see if other UMKC campus labs have computers with webcams, check with UMKC Information Services. 

Books coming from Missouri Academic libraries (through UM Libraries or MOBIUS systems) are delivered within 3-5 business days. For books coming through the InterLibrary Loan system that allows us to borrow from libraries around the world, 50% are available within 10 days, 60% within 14 days, and 90% are available within 21 days.

There are printers in both Miller Nichols Library and the Health Sciences Library. Log on to any library computer to send a document to a color or black and white printer. The printers are shown on the library floor plan maps. To print from your laptop, use the UMKC Web Print website to upload your document, and then send it to a library printer. Note: if you're not on campus, log in to the UMKC VPN to use Web Print.

Release your print job at a printer by swiping your UMKC ID card, typing in your student ID number, or scanning the QR code at the printer.

Yes, contact us to learn more.

Connect to the UMKC campus wifi network, UMKCWPA, and use your UMKC username and password to log on.

Adjust the wireless network settings on your phone or laptop using the instructions for your type of device. 

For assistance setting up wifi on your device contact the UMKC IS Technology Support Center at (816) 235-2000.

You can request books and articles from any library in the world by placing an Interlibrary Loan request. 

Log in with your UMKC username and password and request the item you need. You'll get an email when your book or article is on its way. 

Yes! Use the library search to find items you want, open the record, click Place Request on the left, and choose UMKC Health Sciences Library as your pick up location.

The UMKC Libraries doesn’t have up-to-date access to the New York Times because our online database has a 3 month delay, and our collection of the New York Times on microfilm is updated monthly.

• See available dates on microfilm for recent issues plus historical access back to 1857
• Access past issues online with a UMKC login: The New York Times Recent, 01/01/2008 - present (Full Text Delay: 3 months)

For online access to the most current New York Times, and access to historical issues, sign up for free for a local public library card and get access through the matching link below.

• Kansas City Public Library
• Mid-Continent Public Library
• Johnson County Library

The UMKC Law Library keeps print issues of the current month of the New York Times. Visit the Law Library in person to use them.

If you are a New York Times digital subscriber or wish to purchase hard to find articles, you may want to use the New York Times Article Archive.

MOBIUS is the combined online catalog of 60+ libraries in Missouri, listing all of their books and materials. UMKC library users can borrow physical materials from MOBIUS libraries; you can not borrow eBooks. You can request items by selecting MOBUIS from the A-Z list of UMKC Libraries Databases, or by using the link in the library catalog and that says Search MOBIUS. Select Miller Nichols or UMKC Health Sciences Library as your pick up location.  

Requesting materials in the MOBIUS catalog will be unavailable April 18-May 22 while the MOBIUS library consortium transitions to a new platform. Request items using interlibrary loan during the disruption. 

Yes! Users can read the Kansas City Star through the Access World News database. The Star is available from 1991 to today in text format, from 2013 to today as color full-page images, plus blogs from 2005 to today and some recent video and video transcripts. The library continues to maintain our microfilm collection of the Kansas City Star, reaching back to 1885.

Yes! Select a color printer when sending a document to print from a library computer, or use the UMKC Web Print website to upload a document from your laptop and send to a color printer in the library at one of these locations:

• Miller Nichols Library across from the Service Desk on the first floor
• Music/Media computer lab on the ground floor of Miller Nichols Library
• Health Sciences Library across from the Service Desk

Release your print job at a printer by swiping your UMKC ID card, typing in your student ID number, or scanning the QR code at the printer.

Note: if you're not on campus, log in to the UMKC VPN to use Web Print.

At the Health Sciences Library, place library books or materials in the return slot located at the service desk in the Health Sciences Library, or in the return box outside the library entrance. 

At the Miller Nichols Library, place library books or materials in a return located:

• In the 24-hour return box at the north entrance of Miller Nichols Library, inside the entrance vestibule
• In the wall to the left of the first floor Service Desk (as seen when facing the desk)
• At the Music/Media service desk on the ground floor of the library

24-hour book return: The return box at the north entrance of Miller Nichols Library, inside the entrance vestibule, is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Place items in the box through the slot. You can enter the vestibule to return items without entering the library. 

The library will arrange to provide outside pickup and return of library materials if needed. See the library's Accessibility page for details on setting up your account for outside pickup and returns and making requests.