For BU Alumni
BU Libraries welcomes graduates of the University to make use of a selection resources.
Visiting BU Libraries Branches
BU Alumni may visit Libraries branches as visitors by checking in with a photo ID and their alumni card at the front desk upon arrival. Learn more about the BU Libraries’ Visitor Policy.
Access to Electronic Resources
If you graduated prior to or in 2011, and don’t have an @bu.edu account, you will need to create a new account here. For more information on alumni benefits, visit the BU Alumni & Friends website. Please contact the Alumni Office for assistance.
If you graduated after 2011, use your BU Login username and password.
Borrowing Materials
BU Libraries offer a request and contactless pickup service for books and other circulating materials that is available to alumni. BU Libraries 2 Go items may be requested by emailing the following details to ask@bu.edu: Title, Author, and your BU username/email address. If possible, please include the item record permalink from BU Libraries Search. You will receive an email notification when items are available for pickup.
Electronic Resources Available to Alumni
The BU Libraries provide alumni access to the following databases:
ABI/INFORM Complete (Alumni edition)
Business, primarily journals, newspapers, reports, eBooks
Annual Reviews
Biomedical, Physical, and Social Sciences
Academic Search (Ebsco Alumni Edition)
Multi-disciplinary journal articles, eBooks
Business Source (Ebsco Alumni Edition)
Ebook Central Alumni Academic Complete
Multi-disciplinary eBooks
JSTOR
Multi-disciplinary journal archives
Project Muse
Humanities and Social Sciences journals, and recent eBooks
Project Muse Ebooks 2010-2012
Humanities and Social Sciences
RefWorks
Citation Manager
To use RefWorks, you must create an account using your BU email address and a unique password (different from your BU Login password).
Sage Journals
Multi-disciplinary
Free Online Resources
OpenBU
OpenBU is BU’s open access institutional repository. It contains documents and publications authored or co-authored by BU faculty, students, and staff.
Directory of Open Access Journals
Access to the full text of thousands of journals covering the humanities, social sciences, and sciences and also provides access to indexes in these subject areas, including dissertations and theses.
Hathi Trust
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
MedlinePlus (Medicine)
Produced by the National Library of Medicine, MedLinePlus provides information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues including links to medical research on a topic.
PubMed (via the National Library of Medicine)
Note: Guest access to articles from BU’s subscription e-journals is NOT available through PubMed.
ERIC (Education)
AGRICOLA (Agriculture)
WorldCat (search libraries in your community and around the world)
Boston Public Library (BPL) online resources are available to Massachusetts residents. The BPL offers a virtual library card (eCard) that allows users immediate remote access to all BPL electronic resources, including magazine databases and downloadable audio, video, and music files.
Online registration and eCard FAQ.
More Information
The following BU Libraries provide additional information for Alumni: