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Libraries

Johns Hopkins has a vast array of library resources to serve your academic endeavors. Library facilities span across various divisions and campuses. Students and faculty can utilize university resources both in-person at the various campus libraries and by accessing extensive virtual library resources online. To use a Hopkins library in person, students and faculty must possess a JCard. Students are issued a JCard upon registering for their first course. The JCard serves as an ID card and as a library card in the Hopkins libraries. Students who are Hopkins employees at locations other than the Homewood campus use their divisional library or library/ID card. This page outlines some of your library resource options.

Library Services for Each Campus/Center
CIRLA (Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance)
Online Access to Library Resources

Library Services for Each Campus/Center

Homewood Campus

The Sheridan Libraries encompass the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and its collections at the Albert D. Hutzler Reading Room in Gilman Hall, the John Work Garrett Library at Evergreen House, and the George Peabody Library at Mt.Vernon Place. Together these collections provide the major research library resources for the university. The Sheridan Libraries also provide a rich array of resources and services for part-time and full-time students. The Milton S. Eisenhower Library is the university's principal research library and the largest of a network of libraries at Hopkins. A repository of over three million books and 17,000 journal subscriptions(over 2,200 online journals), it also employs the latest information technology to offer users immediate and orderly access to an ever-expanding array of resources, from ancient texts to the latest scientific reports.

Interlibrary Services (ILS) provides Eisenhower Library patrons access to materials NOT owned by the Eisenhower Library, Moravia Park, or Gilman Storage. ILS will contact other libraries to borrow books or have articles photocopied for you. In some cases you may be able to borrow audio-visual material, microforms, and dissertations, although other libraries often will not circulate these items. All current faculty, students, and staff with a JHU library card are eligible for free, unlimited use of Interlibrary Services. Materials can be obtained from other JHU libraries and from libraries outside of the JHU system. For more information on current hours of operation, and services, please visit the libraries' web site: library.jhu.edu.

Montgomery Campus
The Montgomery County Campus Library maintains a reference and circulating collection of materials for use by campus faculty and students. The Montgomery County Campus Library's collection consists of approximately 5,000 titles, 265 periodicals, and numerous databases. Subject areas in the collection include the biosciences, environmental sciences, and social sciences. Interlibrary loan service permits students to obtain journals and books not available at the Montgomery County Campus Library. Lexis-Nexis Universe, Horizon WebPac (an online catalog searching tool), and a variety of bibliographic databases are accessible through workstations in the library. These services are also available in the open computer lab for students. To borrow materials, you must present your Johns Hopkins University JCard at the circulation desk. The library is open from noon to 8:45 p.m. Monday through Friday; and 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Saturday year-round. For more information visit mcc.jhu.edu/library

Washington D.C. Center
Students in Washington are welcome to do research in the Library Resource Center at 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. The center's staff facilitates interlibrary loan, reserve services, and a collection of program-specific reference materials, books, and videos. The Library Resource Center has 10 workstations in the Electronic Research Room connecting to Eisenhower Library's Horizon WebPac, the Hopkins online catalog search tool, and a vast array of electronic databases, journals, and periodicals. Additionally, students may access electronic resources from non-Hopkins computers. The Washington Center library collection is non-circulating. Books and journal articles not located onsite can be delivered via interlibrary loan; request forms are available at the library desk. The library is open Monday-Thursday noon- 8:00 p.m.., Friday noon. - 5:00 p.m., and Saturday 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.

CIRLA (Chesapeake Information and Research Library Alliance)

Direct Borrower Program for Graduate Students and Institutional Researchers Participating Libraries: a voluntary, not-for-profit organization of educational and research institutions in Delaware, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. Faculty and graduate students of CIRLA institutions have reciprocal borrowing privileges.

George Washington University Gelman Library
Georgetown University
Howard University
Johns Hopkins University (except Welch, SAIS, and Friedheim libraries)
Library of Congress
National Agriculture Library (Beltsville)
Smithsonian Institution Libraries (excludes Freer/Sackler, Hirshhorn, NMAA/NPG)
University of Delaware Libraries
University of Maryland, College Park Libraries

To obtain a CIRLA form from MSEL, graduate students must have active borrowing privileges and be in good standing (returned recalled items, minimal fines, no other blocks, etc.) at MSEL to receive a Circulation supervisor's signature for authorization to participate in the alliance. CIRLA borrowing privileges are typically offered through the end of the current semester/term only. Graduate students may complete a CIRLA request form at the Circulation desk in MSEL or the Library Resource Center in Washington, as well as the Montgomery County Campus Library. A JCard must be presented to apply for CIRLA privileges.

Online Access to Library Resources

Johns Hopkins University provides three systems through which Johns Hopkins students and faculty can access library resources online at library.jhu.edu from any Internet-connected location. Full-text database and journal resources, as well as electronic reserves, are readily available after a simple authentication. Because, the online library is restricted in use to students and faculty, you must use one of the following methods below to access the library online from a location that is off campus:

1. Use VPN: VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. VPN allows students, faculty, and staff to connect securely to the Johns Hopkins computer network from any off-campus location and use Hopkins University online resources. To use VPN you must have a valid Johns Hopkins Enterprise Directory ID (JHED) and you must download and install the VPN client software on the computer you want to use to access the Johns Hopkins network. Once you have successfully installed the client software on your computer, you will be able to log-in and access the online library resources using a web browser. Click here to download and set up VPN client software along with instructions for setting it up on your computer.

2. Use Hopkins Libraries Proxy Service: In the event that you cannot use VPN due to technical difficulties, security policies at your computer location, or other reasons, the university’s Sheridan Libraries provides an alternative means to access online library resources remotely. Using the library proxy service, students, faculty and university staff who have a valid JHED ID and password can remotely access Web-based databases, electronic books and electronic journals subscribed to by the Sheridan Libraries. This service will not allow access to eReserves (materials such as syllabus or articles that have been made available online at the request of an instructor for the current semester). For more information about the proxy service see: http://www.library.jhu.edu/services/computing/proxyfaqs.html

3. Use the Johns Hopkins Student Web Portal: Johns Hopkins University provides a web portal for students to access many important resources and information, including library resources. To access library resources via the portal, go to http://my.johnshopkins.edu or http://my.jhu.edu. You will need to log in with a your JHED ID and password. Click on the library tab. Here you can access library resources such as the e-reserves for the classes you are enrolled in, browse electronic databases, view your library account and what items you have checked out, download library forms, and link to library tools and resources.

Once you have determined which method you would like to use to access online library resources and have set up your computer, perform the online library access test.