All alumni of Boston College's undergraduate and graduate programs and schools are welcomed back to use the resources of the Libraries onsite and other services and resources as detailed below.

Borrowing Privileges

Alumni have borrowing privileges at all the Boston College Libraries except the Law Library. The loan period for alumni borrowers is 28 days with two renewals per item permitted. At the Educational Resource Center (ERC) alumni have borrowing privileges (excluding all educational and psychological tests) for 14 days with one renewal (28 days total permitted).

Alumni borrower card applications are available at the O'Neill Library and the ERC circulation desks. A valid form of photo identification must be presented when requesting privileges. Once graduation status is confirmed a card will be issued. Borrowing privileges are granted for a 12-month period from the date of application and may be renewed annually. Cards are for personal use only and are non-transferable.

Onsite Access to the Libraries including O’Neill Library

The Boston College Libraries (excluding the Law Library) are open to the public.   

Database and E-journal Access

While on campus, Alumni have access to most of BC’s Databases and Electronic Journals. Some databases may still be restricted to current faculty, students, and staff. Call the O'Neill Reference Desk at 617-552-4472 before coming in, to make sure the database you are interested in is available to alumni. Remote access to the electronic resources is limited by license to current students, faculty, and staff of Boston College. However, you will find many freely available web-based resources on our Reference Shelf.

One important database made available remotely by the Libraries to alumni is ATLA Serials. This resource consists of electronic full-text versions of more than 140 theological journals. A full list of the periodicals included is available.

Access to the database is intended for alumni/ae exclusively. Participants may not share the username or password with others. Contact the one of the following persons for the instructions, account name and password needed to access the ATLAS for Alumni/ae database:

School of Theology and Ministry: Steve Dalton (617-552-6541; stephen.dalton@bc.edu) or Esther Griswold (617-552-6540; esther.griswold@bc.edu)

All others: Jonas Barciauskas (617-552-4447; jonas.barciauskas@bc.edu)

If you are a Massachusetts resident you are eligible for a borrowing card at your local public library which will enable remote access to many scholarly and popular databases and indexes available through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners website. If you do not live in Massachusetts consult your local public library for information about accessing databases.

Reference Service

The Boston College Libraries provide in-person reference service in all libraries. The library web site also offers a variety of help by subject pages to assist in finding more focused resources in your research area. Check the Libraries' hours for service desks staffing or Contact Us for more information. 

RefWorks, the citation manager made available to current students by the Libraries, is also available to alumni. If you established a RefWorks account while a student, log on to RefWorks with the Group Code sent you when you registered. The Alumni Program allows you to continue to use your personal research databases, store and share all types of information, generate bibliographies, and use all the other beneficial features of your RefWorks accounts.

Holmes One Search

Use Holmes to search the Boston College Libraries collections. Holmes can be accessed both in the library and remotely. For more information, please contact the O'Neill Library Reference Desk at 617-552-4472. 

E-mail

In most BC libraries selected workstations will provide access to e-mail services.  If you graduated after May 2002, use your BC student username and password to sign in to the online community.  If you graduated prior to May 2002, register for BC's online community to create your account.

Forget your password? Visit the password assistance page. Forget your username? E-mail your full name, year of graduation, and the last four digits of your Social Security number to alumni.help@bc.edu.

View the Alumni Frequently Asked Questions page for more information or e-mail your question to alumni.help@bc.edu.

Photocopiers and Scanners

Photocopiers are available for guest use.  To use a copier, a copy card from a vending machine must be used – the photocopiers do not take cash. Currently, cards are available for $5 and will make 25 copies at $.20 per copy. Although photocopiers are available in all libraries, card vending machines are located only in O’Neill Library, the Social Work Library, the Theology and Ministry Library and the Law Library. Scanners are not available for guest use.

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