North side, accessible entrance at the John Hay Library
This summer, the windows at the John Hay Library will be replaced, and there will also be smaller projects to update spaces above the first floor. As a result of this facilities work, there will be changes to the Hay’s hours and access. Please refer to the John Hay Library website for any changes to our hours and our holiday schedule.
Building-wide
May 31 – September 5
The Hay will be open Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Only the first floor will be open to patrons.
July 21 – August 24
The front doors will be inaccessible (emergency exit only).
Patrons will need to use the north side, accessible entrance.
Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room
May 29 – June 4
The special collections reading room will be closed.
June 5 – September 5
The special collections reading room will be open on this schedule by reservation only. Please see Visiting the Brown University Special Collections for information about scheduling a reading room appointment.
Monday, Tuesday, Friday: 1 – 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Willis Reading Room
The Willis Reading Room will remain open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Bopp, Bruhn, Lownes Rooms
The Bopp Room (3rd floor), Lownes Room (2nd floor), and Bruhn Room (2nd floor) will be unavailable from May 29 – September 5.
Classroom Requests
Please place requests for classes through the Brown University Library Instruction Request Form. Some class sessions may be held in the Special Collections Reading Room, depending on the room schedule, size of the class, and staff availability.
Third Floor
The third floor of the John Hay Library will be closed from May 29 – September 5, including the Anne S. K. Brown Military Gallery.
An open letter from the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation (IPLC), consisting of the directors from thirteen libraries including the Brown University Library, was sent to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in support of the Nelson Memo, which aims to expand equitable access to federally-funded publications and data. The letter also communicates the directors’ concerns about potential journal expense increases for libraries and other stakeholders.
The Congressionally-established (OSTP) and its Senate-confirmed Director provide advice to the U.S. President and the Executive Office of the President and Executive branch on all matters related to science and technology. In August of 2022, current OSTP Director Dr. Alondra Nelson released an important memorandum to the directors of federal agencies funding scientific research and development, now referred to as the “Nelson Memo.”
More agencies to require free access
The memo outlines significant updates to policies that provide public access to federally-funded publications and data to be made by 2025. One of the major directives within the memo that impacts faculty is the expansion of the OSTP’s former public access directive to cover more federal agencies, including those with $100 million or more or $100 million or less in scientific research and development expenditures. These agencies will now be required to develop plans for grantees to make the published results of federally-funded research freely available to the public and manage and share the digital data resulting from that research.
Eliminating 12-month embargo
Another of the memo’s groundbreaking advances that will impact faculty is that final peer-reviewed manuscripts will be required to be made immediately available, ending the historical practice of permitting a 12-month embargo. The 12-month embargo, required by many publishers, delayed the public’s access to the final peer-reviewed manuscripts, allowing their journals one year of being the sole venue to disseminate the article to their subscribers.
Faculty impact
In general, libraries, including the Brown University Library, are very much in support of the public’s free, equitable, and immediate access to federally-funded research. We want to emphasize that the Nelson Memo does notrequire that faculty publish in an open access journal, and it does not require faculty to publish in a journal that requires authors to pay a fee or article processing charge (APC) for immediate access. It is expected that faculty compliance will be facilitated via deposit of final peer-reviewed manuscripts in agencies’ specific public access repositories, such as NIH’s PMC, NSF-PAR, or DOE PAGES, among others.
Concerns about cost
Over the years the increase in the annual costs to the University’s budget for paying for subscriptions to scholarly journals has severely outpaced inflation; today roughly half of the Library’s collection budget is dedicated to the acquisition of journal databases and other resources to support STEM. Thus, there are serious concerns shared by libraries about how publishers might respond and adapt their business models in advance of losing this 12-month embargo, potentially impacting the cost of already expensive subscriptions and limiting and bundling of titles within packages made available to institutions. Libraries also have significant concerns about some publishers’ APC-based publication models and worry that the industry might take advantage of these changes promoted by the Nelson Memo to promote its expansion.
Brown University administration has generously planned an extended Winter Break from the close of business on Thursday, December 22, 2022 through Sunday, January 8, 2023. In order to maintain support of students, faculty, and researchers during this time, while giving dedicated library staff members well-deserved time off, the University Library will be offering limited building hours and services. Please take note of the time-sensitive services listed below so that you can plan ahead and obtain the materials you will need in advance of the break.
Please consult Library Hours for up-to-date hours for each location.
Place orders for Annex, Borrow Direct, and Holds by Dec. 20
Please place orders for materials from the Library Annex and through Borrow Directby 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 20 for pickup on Thursday, December 22. We will be unable to place items on hold during the break. Note that delivery of Borrow Direct materials may vary depending on the operations of our partner libraries.
Which locations will be open? Who can use the buildings?
The Rockefeller Library will be open (without services) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (see exceptions below) with swipe card access for current Brown ID holders only. Visitors without a current Brown ID will not be able to access the buildings. Please see the Library Hours and Locations page for details.
The John Hay Library, Sciences Library, and Orwig Music Library will be closed during the break.
Will you close completely for some days?
All University Library locations will be closed with no on-site or online services on Friday, December 23, Christmas Eve (Saturday, December 24), Christmas Day (Sunday, December 25), and New Year’s Day (Sunday, January 1).
Self-checkout
Self-checkout of circulating materials will be available at the Rockefeller Library and Sciences Library during break and continuing with regular operations.
How can I get help from a library expert?
Limited support for the Brown community and researchers working on time-sensitive projects will be available on the days when we are not fully closed via email at [email protected]. Please allow 12 – 24 hours for a response.
Will Interlibrary Loan be available?
You may continue to place orders through Interlibrary Loan for electronic journal articles. Note that delivery dates and times will vary depending on the operations of our partner libraries.
Can I view special collections material?
Requests for special collections material can be made at any time through Aeon. John Hay Library staff will respond to requests that come in over break beginning the week of January 9. Thousands of items have been digitized and are available for view at any time through the Brown Digital Repository.
Who will be on-site when the buildings are open?
The Library will have security guards in the buildings when they are open by card swipe access. Please note that security guards are not Library employees. They are not able to answer research questions and cannot retrieve library materials.
Happy Holidays!
Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and restful winter break from your Brown University Library!
On December 13, EasyBorrow — Brown’s integrated service for requesting items held by other Ivies Plus partners — will move to a new service platform. This new platform, ReShare, will provide patrons with the same ability to request materials directly from our BorrowDirect partner libraries but offers greater integration with our ILLiad system.
What will change?
When submitting requests directly from BruKnow, the Library’s online catalog, you will be prompted to enter your regular University credentials and will then see your citation in a prepopulated ILLiad form. You need only to click “submit.” Your request will be sent to the Borrow Direct libraries for fulfillment, and will receive the same rapid and consistent delivery. This integration with ILLiad enables all requests to remain active should the Borrow Direct libraries be unable to fulfill the request.
Why are we changing?
Our Borrow Direct partner institutions are migrating to ReShare, which provides additional opportunities to customize the service according to a library’s changing needs. ReShare is owned and governed by a community of libraries and developers, promoting collaboration across libraries and institutions, and creating more opportunities for future functionality.
What do you need to do?
Continue placing your Borrow Direct requests as usual. On December 13, look for our new platform. At that time, all new requests will be placed through ReShare.
Please return Borrow Direct materials
Help us clear up “legacy” requests by returning any Borrow Direct materials you no longer need. While this is not strictly necessary (your due dates will not change), it would be most appreciated.
No Article Processing Charges for Brown authors who wish to publish articles via gold open access with Cambridge University Press
Many authors would like to publish their scholarly articles gold open access (OA) but are deterred by the article processing charge (APC) assessed by the publisher — sometimes as high as thousands of dollars. With Brown’s recent Read & Publish agreement with Cambridge University Press, corresponding authors at Brown who have manuscripts accepted for publication from the 1st of January 2022 and publish in Cambridge’s journals will no longer have to pay the APC for gold OA, augmenting OA publishing options at Brown, providing Brown community members with free access to Cambridge titles, and enhancing global access to scholarly work by Brown researchers.
With gold OA, the final published version of the article — the “Version of Record” — is permanently and freely available online for anyone, anywhere to read.
Read more about the Read & Publish agreement here and the process here. This agreement strengthens Brown’s commitment to OA and facilitates compliance with the Brown University Open Access Policy, adopted by the faculty in 2021.
All Brown University Library facilities and services will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.
Rockefeller Open for Study 12/27 – 12/29
The Rockefeller Library building will be open to current Brown students, faculty, and staff via swipe card on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, December 27 – 29, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. The Rock will not be staffed during those three days, and patrons will not be able to check out materials.
Full Reopening on 1/4/22
Libraries will open with staff on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Hours for the new year will be posted on the Library Hours page.
Best wishes to everyone for health, peace, and joy during the break. We look forward to seeing you in 2022!
Your Brown University Library thanks you for all you have done during these past months to keep our staff and patrons safe while using the Library.
In order to make the Orwig Music building more accessible, the door at the accessible entrance is being replaced. The work will occur from Tuesday, October 5 – Wednesday, October 6, necessitating the closure of the entrance. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and look forward to welcoming you through a more accessible door on Thursday, October 7.
The front door will remain open as usual. If you have any questions or concerns, please email [email protected]
Operations are founded on the most up-to-date, reliable safety protocols to ensure a healthy environment for our patrons and staff. Please follow all Healthy Brown steps to keep yourself and our community well. If you aren’t feeling well, please make use of the Library’s robust slate of digital resources.
When you come to the Library, please:
Wear a mask over your mouth and nose at all times
Maintain social distance
Help keep Brown healthy: Get tested for COVID-19 every week if you are fully vaccinated, twice a week if you are not yet fully vaccinated or have received an exemption. Wear a mask indoors when on campus, regardless of your vaccination status, and outside if you are not vaccinated and social distancing is not possible. Learn more.
Who can access Library buildings?
Current Brown students, faculty, and staff and current Rhode Island School of Design students can access all locations as follows:
Rockefeller Library – without a reservation
Sciences Library – without a reservation
Orwig Music Library – without a reservation (limited hours starting September 7)
John Hay Library – reservations required for the Special Collections Reading Room (email [email protected]); reservations not required for individual study space in the Willis Reading Room
Visitors who anticipate using the Rockefeller, Sciences, or Orwig Libraries on an ongoing basis must obtain a Brown University Library card. Cards will not be issued until visitors have completed the Brown University Library Visitors: Fall 2021 request form. The Library must approve requests for all visitors except those with IDs sponsored by a department or program at Brown, or Brown alumni. More information
Health Protocols
In accordance with University policy, all visitors — regardless of vaccination status — must wear masks indoors, unless in a private, non-shared space (e.g., office or dorm room). Visitors must abide by the policies on the Healthy Brown website and should review the Visitor and Guest Vaccination Requirement.
Library Support
In-person
Patrons can schedule in-person and online consultation appointments with a Library expert by contacting the relevant subject specialist directly. Not sure whom to contact? Email [email protected] for general inquiries and [email protected] for Special Collections inquiries.
The stacks at the Rock and SciLi are open, and circulation staff are on-site to check out materials.
Online
Please continue to request materials online through BruKnow. Requested materials will be held at the service desks. Patrons will be notified when the item is available and where it should be picked up. The Library is providing document delivery through the ILLiad system.
During regular hours, current Brown and RISD ID holders can swipe through the inside gate. Extended building hours are available to current Brown ID holders only by swipe access at the front door.
Regular Hours:
September 3 – 7, 2021:
Friday, September 3: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, September 4: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, September 5: 12 noon – 7 p.m.
Monday, September 6: Closed for Labor Day holiday
Tuesday, September 7: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
September 8 through end of fall term:
Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Extended Building Hours
For current Brown ID holders only, from September 8 through end of fall term:
Research in the Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room (first floor)
Saturday and Sunday: Closed
Monday, September 6: Closed for Labor Day holiday
September 8 through end of fall term:
Study in the Willis Reading Room (first floor):
Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, noon – 10 p.m.
Research in the Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room (first floor):
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed Saturday and Sunday
For research in the Special Collections Reading Room, please email [email protected] to request a seat reservation. We are currently limiting use of the Special Collections Reading Room to a maximum of nine (9) researchers at a time. You must also request materials through Aeon one week (5 full business days) in advance of your reservation.
Following an extensive infrastructure renovation, the Orwig Music Library will be open for limited weekday hours starting September 7. Please contact [email protected] or call 401-863-3759 for more information.
Reserving Study Rooms
Beginning September 8, current Brown students, staff, and faculty, and RISD students will be able to reserve group study rooms at the Rock and SciLi through libcal.brown.edu.
Graduate and Medical Student Carrels
Study carrels are available to graduate and medical students. Interested persons should inquire at the Rockefeller Library service desk.
Guides and videos with information about how to use the Library, conduct various aspects of research, and more are always available online.
Feedback
Your Brown University Library is committed to providing all patrons with the best possible academic library experience. Throughout your engagement with Library collections, physical spaces, patron services, instruction, and web-based tools and content, you should be welcomed, valued, and respected, and be provided with equal opportunities to pursue scholarship in a spirit of free and open inquiry.
We encourage your feedback about any aspect of Library services, resources, and facilities. Feedback can be made through this anonymous form, which has an option for inputting your contact information, or you can email [email protected].
BruKnow — the Library’s updated search and catalog system named by Brown students — went live on August 18, 2021, delivering enhanced searching capabilities.
Interested in helping the Library refine BruKnow? Sign up for user testing! All Library patrons with current access to the catalog are invited to participate.
Why a New System
The software company ExLibris acquired the company that provides the Library’s current system (including Josiah), which dates back to the 1990s. The Library decided to proactively migrate to the integrated library system offered by ExLibris, known as “Alma,” and its search counterpart, “Primo.” BruKnow is the Library’s Primo. ExLibris has been working with Library staff to customize the system for our unique catalog and users.
Enhanced Searching
The updated system will yield more extensive catalog resource results, offer more refined search tools, and provide many user-friendly features like saved searches, notifications for new items relevant to saved searches, smart spelling correction, virtual browsing of physical items, and “best bets.”
BruKnow the Name
Undergraduate students Isabel Kim ’22 and Michal Loren ’23 each individually submitted “BruKnow” as a name suggestion during the students-only naming contest hosted by the Library during Spring and Summer 2021. 93 students submitted 125 name suggestions. A group of ten students composed of members of the Library Advisory Board, the Graduate Library Advisory Council, and identified through the Undergraduate Council of Students narrowed the submissions down to five finalists. 223 students voted for their favorite name among the finalists, and BruKnow was the most popular choice.
The students who suggested the names that made the short list in addition to BruKnow:
Changes Coming to NCBI Login Accounts in June 2021
Beginning in June 2021, NCBI will no longer have a direct login option (username/password). This change is occurring to improve account security by using third-party logins. Your NCBI account is used to access MyBibliography, SciENcv, and MyNCBI.
If you currently log in to MyNCBI with a username and password, you will need to add an additional login path to your account. This will not change anything saved in your account — it will simply add different login credentials.
To update your account, first login to MyNCBI:
Then click your account name in the top right hand corner:
Click “Account settings”:
Under the “Linked Accounts” section on the following page, click “Change” to add an account. Note that the “Native NCBI” account option will no longer be available to be used as a login after the June cutover.
You can use your Brown shibboleth login, or an additional third party login such as Login.gov. If you anticipate changing organizations in the future, you may want to choose Login.gov or ORCiD. If you have NIH funding and an eRA Commons account, you should use the same login mechanism for both. Search for Brown or Login.gov, and click the result to continue configuring the login.
