Services for Faculty & Staff

Overview of key library services.

Consult a subject librarian for help with your research, to teach library instruction, and to answer any research and library related questions.

Contact us for general library related questions.

Access and borrowing privileges.

Overview of how to request materials from our off-site collections, Interlibrary loan and Worldcat.

Self-service scanners from print to PDF; FAX service; technology center walk-in help.

Suggest items for our collection.

Request pickup of library materials from university offices and arrange a time for library staff to visit offices to re-loan items that have either reached the renewal limit or have moved to 'lost' status.

Contact us for more information about Burns Library or special collections and archival needs.

Locate books, videos, dissertations and other items in the Libraries’ collection. Get full-text article access in BC's databases.

Find bibliographic citations for information in your research subject area. Locate full-text resources.

Search for online and print journals in our collection.

Starting points for subject and general research.

The Burns Library is home to more than 250,000 volumes, some 16,000,000 manuscripts and important collections of architectural records, maps, art works, newspapers, photographs, films, prints, artifacts and ephemera.

The Digital Studio in O'Neill Library is a space for faculty, students, and staff to explore resources for analyzing and creating digital media.

A blog newsletter updated weekly. Find out what's happening at the BC Libraries.

Help in best practices for managing, sharing and preserving your data for the long-term, as required by some funding agencies. Data citation best practices.

The DMP Tool helps researchers create a data management plan fitting to their needs and based on agency guidelines. This secure website quickly links to customized help for Boston College researchers. Templates help build DMPs based on agency guidelines. The service includes local support guidelines and contacts in the Boston College Libraries and the Office of Sponsored Research.

A multi-disciplinary data repository for Boston College researchers which makes it easy to upload your research data to improve impact, visibility and access. Deposited data will automatically generate citation information and a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) that can be used to cite your data and link to related publications and presentations or to share with colleagues who request your data.

Support for locating and accessing research data.

This digital repository is a sharing and preservation platform for Boston College scholarship, making it globally accessible.

We provide services and software for Boston College faculty, staff, and students who want to publish an online open access journal.

The Libraries administer a fund that provides money to defray article publishing fees for fully open access journal articles authored by Boston College faculty or students.

Interviews with BC faculty about recent publications.

Learn about the eTD requirements, submission process, and University policy.

Starting points for subject and general research.

Learn how subject librarians can assist with discovery of resources, managing research results, creating alerts, navigating copyright issues, deciding where to publish, creating digital scholarship and assessing your impact.

Consult a subject specialist for help with your research, to set up alerts to new publications in your areas of interest and to answer any research and library related questions.

Many databases and journals provide current awareness services. Get new article citations and Tables of Contents emailed to keep up with the latest research in your field.

We support Zotero, Mendeley, and other similar tools.

Materials available in multiple formats on a broad variety of topics. Collections’ strengths include (but are not strictly limited to) Irish history, literature, and music; British Catholic authors; Jesuit studies; Catholic liturgy and life in America; Boston College history; Boston history and politics; the Caribbean, and nursing history, theory, and practice. Burns librarians and archivists are available to answer questions, recommend research strategies, and to provide class and individual instruction for our more than 210,000 volumes and 750+ archival collections.
Contact Burns Library for research and instruction support

Find high-quality course materials that are free or low cost for students.

Information on Burns Library Instruction Program

The Center sponsors events, seminars, grant programs, and awards, and actively cooperates with Boston College schools and departments to support their efforts to enhance and review teaching.

Attend seminars on college teaching, higher learning, and academic life at the Connors Family Learning Center (O’Neill Library, 2nd floor).

Information for submitting items and requesting digitization or streaming.

How to add Library resources to your Canvas course.

The Digital Studio in O'Neill Library is a space for faculty, students, and staff to explore resources for analyzing and creating digital media.

Information on the instruction program and workshops.

Search libraries worldwide to find material owned by BC and beyond. Request items from other libraries including Boston Library Consortium (BLC) libraries. Items are usually delivered to BC in 2-5 days.

Request materials not owned by Boston College Libraries.

You can borrow materials from any of the academic and research libraries in the BLC. Consortium cards may be obtained at the Circulation Desk in O'Neill Library or at the Law Library.

The cognate and theology collections of the BTI make it one of the richest theological library centers in the world. Visit the O'Neill Library or Theology & Ministry Library Circulation Desk for information on borrowing materials from a BTI library.

Founded in 1807, the Boston Athenaeum is one the largest and most distinguished independent libraries in the United States. Although its extensive special collections and archives are open to all researchers, access to its main book collection, reading rooms, programs, and events are available to members only. The BC Libraries are able to sponsor a limited number of guest memberships each year. Please contact Associate University Librarian Christian Dupont for details (christian.dupont@bc.edu).

This program allows faculty members of participating institutions borrowing privileges and on-site access to almost 200 important research libraries in North America. You must have an RFBP borrowing card, issued by Boston College, to gain access or borrow from a participating institution. For more information contact any Subject Specialist.

The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) Reciprocal Borrowing Program allows the faculty of Boston College to obtain borrowing permission from its member libraries.

Through the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) faculty members have on-site access and borrowing privileges to the collective holdings of 28 Jesuit institutions.

As a member of the Center for Research Libraries we have access to numerous research resources unavailable anywhere else.