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           COVID-19 ALERT: The library is closed, but staff are available ONLINE during business hours and full-text databases are accessible 24/7 to VDOT employees.

Knovel: Quick Start Guide: About

The purpose of this guide is help VDOT employees find and use Knovel, a “full-text” subscription database available to all VDOT employees by the VDOT Research Library.

What is Knovel?

Knovel is a technical e-book database accessible to all VDOT employees from the VDOT network. VDOT’s subscription to Knovel provides access to electronic versions of books from core publishers in transportation, including: AASHTO, TRB, Wiley and Elsevier. This “virtual” library collection is an important supplement to the VDOT Library’s “physical” collections. Knovel offers 35 separate collections on topics from Aerospace & Radar Technology to Textiles through the URL: https://library.virginiadot.org/resources/knovel

However, at this time VDOT only subscribes to the following sets for a total of about 1,200 e-book titles:  

•    Civil Engineering & Construction Materials
•    Engineering Management & Leadership
•    General Engineering & Project Administration
•    Transportation Engineering

Am I logged in?

There are many ways to get to Knovel.  It is accessible from the library’s Web site, from the Library’s page on InsideVDOT and from the Library’s Online Catalog. However, there is also an option to log in as a "guest" which gives you access to NONE of VDOT's subscription. To create an account that will give you access to ALL of VDOT's subscription, follow the steps in the next section of this guide. Unsure if you are logged in as you or as a guest? If you are logged in properly you should see the VDOT logo and your login name in the upper right corner of the screen.  
Knovel login screen showing VDOT logo and patron name.

If you are logged in as a "Guest" you'll be able to search through all Knovel content, and it will look like you're about to get to the full text you need. But the excitement will soon be replaced with frustration if you see a message like this: 

Error message reading "You do not appear to be a subscriber to Knovel."

If you see this message you need to either log in using your existing account or create a new account and log in that way. 

Search Knovel

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