Resources for SU Alumni
By John Stawarz, Greg Dachille, and Austin Waters
Great work! During your time as a student at Syracuse University, you’ve likely come to appreciate many of the resources, services, and library professionals who have helped support you and your work. Here’s information on which SU Libraries’ resources you can continue to access after graduation, as well as help you discover new resources to meet your information needs.
Resources at Syracuse University Libraries
Alumni who have completed a degree program at Syracuse University, University College, or SUNY-ESF are eligible to obtain a free Guest Borrower card to check out materials from the Libraries for 28 days. Note that there are some restrictions; alumni can have twenty items checked out at a time, and can renew these items up to five times. While SU Libraries’ buildings are currently closed to alumni due to COVID-related safety restrictions, you can normally obtain your Guest Borrow card by presenting your Alumni ID card or other form of identification at the Bird Library circulation desk.
Due to licensing restrictions from publishers and content providers, alumni access to our licensed databases, e-journals, and articles is only available on campus, as EZproxy access officially ends at graduation. You can register at the Bird Library circulation desk to obtain a computer key to use a computer to access our licensed digital resources.
While access to licensed library resources will end, Summon, our main search tool, can help you locate ebooks, journal articles, and other information resources that are published under an open-access license. Open-access resources are freely available online resources that often carry less restrictive copyright and licensing barriers than traditionally published works. To find open-access resources through Summon, simply click on the “Open Access” filter listed in the “Refine Your Search” section of your search results, as demonstrated in this search for information technology resources.
In terms of library technology, you can print to our non-plotter printers through a guest printing account, as PaperCuts print quota account that you used as a student will be closed and any remaining funds will be deleted. And while Bird Library computers are available to alumni, other loaner technology items, such as power adapters and graphing calculators, are only available to currently enrolled students.
Resources at Other Libraries and Across the Internet
SU Libraries strongly encourage students and alumni to explore the wonderful resources and services that public libraries offer, some of which aren’t even available at SU Libraries. For example, not only do the Onondaga County Public Libraries offer research assistance, interlibrary loan, technology, and databases, but they also offer access to thousands of ebooks, audiobooks, streaming movies, and other digital resources that can be opened on nearly any device. Registration for an OCPL account is free and online. If you still currently live in New York State, registering for an account at the New York Public Libraries will open even more doors to hundreds of additional online databases and thousands more ebooks and audiobooks.
If you’re looking for a particular book or other resources near where you live, you can use the WorldCat search tool to learn which local libraries—including public, college, and university libraries—have the item available in their collections that could possibly be available to borrow.
If you have a particular database that you’ve come to rely on during your time at Syracuse University, we’d strongly recommend going to that database’s website to see if they offer any type of free or limited access. JSTOR, for example, offers up to 100 free articles per month to users, and other databases such as ERIC and PubMed also offer some level access. Two other online tools for finding journal articles and other resources are Google Scholar, which can search through many databases simultaneous, as well as the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), which offers access to more than six-million open-access journal articles.
Information Technology Digital Tools & Resources
In addition to questions about library resources, library staff also receive a number of questions about digital tools that are not provided by SU Libraries, particularly the digital tools that Information Technology Services (ITS) provides.
Access to some of these tools, such as Adobe software and LinkedIn Learning, will end at graduation. For other digital resources, such as AirOrangeX, access to the G: and H: drives, Google apps (G Suite), and Office 365, you should have temporary access for up to 12 months. Finally, you should have perpetual access to resources such as Zoom (basic level), Handshake, and your Syracuse University email account (as long as SU continues to renew its current agreement with Microsoft).
More information on these and other digital tools can be found on the IT Resource Access After Graduation, Retirement, Resignation webpage.
Questions?
If you have questions about any of the resources or services listed here, please feel free to reach out to Syracuse University Libraries for assistance. You can also watch the recording of “So You’re Going to Graduate? Library Resources for SU Alumni,” which was part of the Learn at SUL! workshop series.
Congratulations again your graduation!