The Basics
1. Hours: The Friedman Study Center at the Sciences Library is open 24/5 and only closes at 2 AM- 8 AM Saturday and Sunday mornings. The Rockefeller Library is open till 2 AM during the week and 10 PM on Friday and Saturday.
2. Study Spaces: The various Libraries on campus offer a variety of spaces for studying: absolute quiet on Level A of the Rock, as well as the Finn Reading Room with great views of downtown Providence; group study rooms at both the Friedman Center and Finn; majestic reading room at the John Hay Library; bright and quiet Orwig Music Library; and individual study carrels.
3. Computing clusters, networked printing, and scanning: The libraries have computing clusters that include scanning and networked printing, as well as wireless throughout. The Rock also loans laptops. Student consultants are available for assistance. All students are given $30 of printing, which is credited on your Brown ID.
4. Josiah:Our online catalog of books, journals, videos, audio, and more. Renew materials online using MyJosiah, or bring them to the circulation desk.
5. Course Reserves: Required reading, video, & audio materials can be found either online or physically in the libraries.
6. easyBorrow: This service locates and delivers books that are not available at Brown, usually within 48 hours. Articles from journals can usually be delivered within 24 to 48 hours using our ILLiad service.
Research Assistance
It’s Sunday afternoon and the realities of a paper deadline loom. When you need help, remember these services:
7. Ask A Librarian: In the virtual world, library staff can be contacted using chat, text, email, phone, and yes, even in person. These services are available to all – chats from parents are most welcome!
8. Resource Guides by Subject and Course: Resource guides have been created to help you start your research and choose from the many resources available to you. Course pages guide you to tools that best relate to the topics and assignments of a specific course.
9. Research Consultations: These face to face sessions with a subject librarian, usually 30 minutes long, will save you time. The most appropriate sources for your research topic will be introduced and guidance on next steps provided. Impress your professor with the scholarly, peer-reviewed sources you have found.
10. Off-Campus Access to Resources:Home for Thanksgiving and panicked? Don’t worry, use VPN, WebVPN, or the proxy to access our electronic resources from home.
11. Writing Center: Writing at the college level requires a step up for many students, and the Writing Center can help with that transition. Part of the office of the Dean of the College, the center is located on the second floor of J. Walter Wilson.
12. Citation Management: Use one of our tools for capturing citations and automatically creates footnotes and bibliographies. (Yes, that’s right – automatically– so there is more time for 13 and 14 below)
Take A Break
The paper is almost done. Remember, when you are ready for a break, we have:
13. Friedman DVDs: Need something to do those few hours the library is not open? Check out the Friedman Center’s circulating collection of current and classic movies on DVD.
14. Lobby Cafes: Unwind at the Friedman Café or the Rock Café Cart.