Are masks required inside Gould Library?

Please visit the campus response page to learn about current mask requirements at Carleton.

How do I schedule an event in the Athenaeum?

To schedule the Athenaeum for an event, please email athenaeumevents.group@carleton.edu.

How do I put items on reserve?

Placing Materials on Reserve

How do I get access to a book or book chapter?

Carleton students, faculty, and staff off campus may request journal articles and book chapters through their Interlibrary Loan account and we will work to deliver them electronically. If you are off campus and need a scan from a book the library has in print, please use your interlibrary loan account to request a chapter or two.  Students who are on campus but in isolation/quarantine should contact Kari Scheurer (kscheure@carleton.edu) in the Deans' Office if they need to check out library materials. Kari will set up a proxy to check-out materials for those students.

Can I still donate books to the library?

We are currently unable to accept donations of books and other physical materials for the general collection.

Can I request or make my own digital copies of films, books, etc to distribute to my students? What copyright considerations apply?

Carleton’s Copyright Policy and Copyright Guidance are useful. For the most part, anything that you could legally copy or display in your campus classroom you can display in your online classroom.

In general:

Special considerations for film and audio digitization

Digitizing and showing entire films or audio performances is often not advisable.
  • Select films or audio that are already available online and link to those. For content primarily available through Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, etc, consider building your syllabus around one of those platforms and having students temporarily subscribe to those services as if they were buying a textbook. (Note that international access to these platforms may vary considerably, so students should use our VPN to access content.)
  • Work with your Library Liaison to find alternative content that would serve your learning goals.
  • Choose brief clips that are more likely to be considered Fair Use, and work with Academic Technology to deliver those clips to your students. As usual, PEPS will require documentation of your Fair Use analysis before they can reproduce multimedia works.
  • Seek permission from the copyright holder, bearing in mind that this can take some time. As usual, PEPS will require documentation of permission before they can reproduce multimedia works.
For more information, see Carleton's Copyright Guidance on transitioning to online learning.

How do I return library materials?

During the hours the library is open please return Carleton, St. Olaf, and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) books at the Circulation Desk. If the library is closed, please return via the book drop. You may renew eligible Carleton and St. Olaf items by logging in to your Catalyst account. You may request an ILL renewal through your interlibrary loan account.  If you are unable to renew via your ILL account, please contact Brenda Hellen. If you are off campus and have questions about how to return items, please email gouldcirc@carleton.edu.

Do I have to use the VPN to access library resources remotely?

No, it is not necessary. If you are off campus, links to library resources from the library's website will prompt you to log into the library's proxy server. If you'd like to get started right now, you'll be prompted to log in and then directed to the library's main page. If you are using the VPN, the library's website and access to library resources will function as they do when you are on campus. In rare instances a resource only works with the VPN, so you may have to use it. Please ask a librarian if you are having access issues.

When are my library materials due?

How do I find the full text of an article?

Start by searching for the title in Catalyst to see if online access is available. If so you will see "Online Access" in green and options for where to find the full text. If it is not available, there should be a link to submit an interlibrary loan request for the article. You may also try searching Google Scholar to find the full text of articles, when you are off campus, you may have to change your settings to show links to Carleton's resources. We have further information on these research guides:

How do I make an appointment with a Reference Librarian, Archivist, or Special Collections Librarian?

Please click on a librarians' name on this page. If you do not know who your librarian is, scroll down to see which librarian works with your department or specialty.

How do I access library resources if I am off campus?

Almost all of our electronic resources are accessible off campus. Please use the library’s website to access databases, journal articles, and ebooks and you will be asked to log in. If you are connected to Carleton’s VPN, you may use the library’s online resources as you do on campus. More information can be found on the library webpage about off campus access. Carleton students, faculty, and staff off campus may request journal articles and book chapters from our collection or other libraries through their Interlibrary Loan account and we will deliver them electronically. Please note: Requests for items we do not own may be delayed due to library closures throughout the country. Don't hesitate to contact us if we can help.

Where can I find information on the citation managers Zotero and EndNote?

You may be able to find the answers you need in our Zotero guide or EndNote guide. If these do not have what you need, please chat with a librarian, email reference@carleton.edu or make an appointment with the librarian for your department.