ALUMNI RESOURCES
Congratulations! You have graduated and accomplished your goal!
You do not have access to library services and databases once you graduate, but we still want to support your lifelong professional and personal learning.
We have collected these open access resources that are free to you.
- General
- Education
- Nursing
- Religion
- Science
- Public Libraries
- Academic Libraries
- Getting to know a library
- Finding a library
Directory of Open Access Books
DOAB is a community-driven discovery service that indexes and provides access to scholarly, peer-reviewed open access books and helps users to find trusted open access book publishers. All DOAB services are free of charge and all data is freely available.
Directory of Open Access Journals
DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high-quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals.
EBSCO Open Dissertations now includes the content from American Doctoral Dissertations. It is a free database with records for more than 1.4 million electronic theses and dissertations from more than 320 universities around the world.
Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
Freely available works in all areas of science, technology, medicine, the humanities, and social sciences. SpringerOpen has high-level peer-review and production processes that guarantee the quality and reliability of the work. Browse journals by title or subject.
A complimentary research database for teachers, Teacher Reference Center (TRC) provides indexing and abstracts for more than 230 peer-reviewed journals.
PubMed Central® (PMC) is a free full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM).
Freely available works in all areas of science, technology, medicine, the humanities, and social sciences. SpringerOpen has high-level peer-review and production processes that guarantee the quality and reliability of the work. Browse journals by title or subject.
Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL)
The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a digital library that provides free electronic copies of Christian scripture and literature texts.
Open Access Digital Theological Library
The Open Access Digital Theological Library (OADTL) curates high-quality content in religious studies and related disciplines from publisher websites, institutional repositories, scholarly societies, archives, and stable public domain collections.
GreenFILE is a free research database covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government, and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
Freely available works in all areas of science, technology, medicine, the humanities, and social sciences. SpringerOpen has high-level peer-review and production processes that guarantee the quality and reliability of the work. Browse journals by title or subject.
You should identify a library near you that you can use. It may be a public library or an academic library.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Public libraries are convenient with local access. You are eligible to get a library card at your local public library and can check out materials. Most libraries have access to online databases, eBooks, and other electronic materials.
A public library serves your entire community, so the collection will likely have information on all topics. However, there might not be in-depth coverage unless it is a large city or county library.
When you need help, ask a librarian! They will point you to digital resources or help you get an Interlibrary Loan item from another library.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIES
Every community college or university has a library to support its students, faculty, and staff. Libraries have different areas of specialization (medical, law, etc.), and you will want to determine if the library near you has a robust collection in your subject area. This can be done by visiting the library’s website and browsing their catalog.
Many academic libraries allow the local community to check out items. There are some disadvantages of academic libraries.
- Keep in mind that you may not be allowed to check out books, use certain areas of the library, use library services, have access to Wi-Fi, computers, or printers if you are not a student at that college or university. It is best to call ahead and ask what their policies are for members of the local community.
- Academic libraries often operate on limited hours when their students are on vacation (Thanksgiving, Christmas, semester breaks, and summer).
GETTING TO KNOW A LIBRARY
There are some things to consider when selecting a library where you can do research.
- Will the library’s policies allow you to work efficiently?
- Are its hours convenient?
- Will you be allowed to check out materials?
- Are copiers, printers, computers, and Wi-Fi available?
- Will the library have enough information on your topic?
You can contact the library or check their website to find more information about their policies. The library may have enough information on your topic depending on where you are in your research and what you need to accomplish that day. You can visit a library’s website and browse their catalog to see what materials they have on your subject.
There are probably several types of libraries in your vicinity, which may be helpful for research.
FINDING A LIBRARY
- State Public Libraries - Public libraries in the US
- Worldwide Directory of Libraries - Directory of major libraries around the world
- WorldCat Library Catalog - Indexes large libraries around the globe
