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Graduate Student Guide

A guide to help new or continuing graduate students understand the resources available to them. Tailored to students in the humanities.

COVID Notes

For the Fall 2020 semester, most spaces in the Libraries will require online reservations. This includes computers, desks, and study rooms. No group study will be allowed. There will be some limited walk-up availability for computers and desks, but it is advisable not to rely on them being available.
All floors above the 1st floor in Wells Library are closed to the public. This includes the Grad Commons.
You can still reserve study carrels, but you will not be able to use them until the stacks reopen.
Most events and services have transitioned to or continued to be virtual (including reference services), but others will not be possible in the near future.
See the Libraries Fall 2020 page for more information.

Spaces

  1. Collaboration rooms: Graduate students, faculty, and staff can reserve rooms in the Wells Library Scholars' Commons (and in other locations around campus) up to three weeks in advance (note that you need to make the reservation at least 24 hours in advance). Everyone else can use the rooms on a first come, first serve basis.
  2. Study carrels: Graduate students can reserve a study carrel in the Wells Library East Tower stacks. They allow you to leave your books in the library and have a reserved space to do work.
  3. Grad Commons: The Grad Commons is located on the 8th floor of the Wells Library East Tower (behind the elevators) and is exclusively for graduate students. You will need your ID card to enter. The Commons have a printer and twelve PCs.

Opportunities

Take advantage of the many opportunities afforded to the IU community! The following is not an exhaustive list of opportunities offered in the Libraries, let alone across campus and around Bloomington.

  1. Scholars' Commons Events: Brown bags, tutorials, workshops, etc. on everything from basic library research to citation management software to virtual reality.
  2. Supercharge Your Dissertation: A Scholars' Commons event, but one that is so valuable and popular that it deserves its own bullet point.
  3. Institute for Digital Arts & Humanities Events: Discussions and workshops on anything and everything digital.
  4. Moving Image Archive Events: Usually free and sometimes including a discussion with filmmakers or scholars.

Language Help

For those of you who work in foreign languages, this resource might be of use to you:

Other Librarians

The Libraries employ subject specialists in a wide range of topics. Those of you who focus on regions outside the United States and Western Europe are particularly encouraged to build a relationship with your Area Studies Librarian.

For those of you who are teaching, we can also help with your instructional needs.

Other Useful Information

Make sure you take advantage of IUWare to help you gain access to research tools, including: Endnote, Office, JMP, ArcGIS, SPSS, etc. Note that Zotero is available for free. See information below regarding citation management software.

Citation Management