Remote Library Services

Barnard and Columbia Libraries can support a lot of your research needs remotely. Below you will find a list of services provided by the colleges that you can use.

Chat Reference 

Virtual Circulation & Help Desk chat with Barnard Library Access Services, during open hours.

Ask a Librarian is a Columbia chat reference service that offers immediate research help during regular business hours. You can check those hours here. 

Collections

CLIO online catalog is the access point for e-books, streaming media, and online journals for the libraries of both Barnard and Columbia. Teachers College and the Law Library at Columbia maintain separate catalogs.

• Useful CLIO help guides for conducting research
• Video: “What is CLIO?” by Barnard’s own IMATS

Research Support

• Personal Librarians: You can make an appointment for research consultations with your personal librarian, or make an appointment with the next available librarian.

• Research Guides: The library has created research guides with links to useful reference resources, databases, and other resources organized by subject area or created for specific courses.

Joining a Zoom Class Session

IMATS has created a one-page guide to joining Zoom classes from CourseWorks.

Faculty Hybrid/Online Teaching Resources

IMATS and A/V have many resources to support faculty: 

• Instructional Technology Guides detailing resources specifically for the instructional technology we use at Barnard, with a focus on tools that for hybrid and online learning
• Full catalog of classrooms and the available audiovisual technology with detailed instruction sheets for hybrid learning and zoom meetings
• If you would like to request an orientation on the AV technology system in your classrooms or need additional AV resources or technician support for an upcoming class, please fill out the Classroom Support Request Form.
• Contact courseworks@barnard.edu about CourseWorks (Canvas) or Zoom
• Contact avservices@barnard.edu for questions about classroom technology
• Contact imats@barnard.edu for equipment information and any other questions.

While searching in CLIO is a great way to find ebooks, it can take a bit of time for newly purchased ebooks to show up there. Try searching these individual ebook databases as well as free and open ebook databases.

For a full list of ebook collections available at Columbia & Barnard, click this link:

Ebooks that need a Barnard/Columbia UNI

Free Online Ebook Resources

You can find thousands of online newspapers, magazines, and other sources of news through CLIO. To search for a specific newspaper or magazine, for publications from a certain city, or for a specific article, use CLIO:

• To search for a newspaper or magazine, search in the Catalog. You can search first in E-Journal Titles to see if we have digital coverage of the journal/ Narrow your format to Newspaper or Journal/Periodical to hone in on the correct title and keep in mind that there may be many publications with the same name--look to place of publication or the full catalog description to determine if it is the right one. Select the catalog record; the box on the right will have information about what years we have and in which format/from which databases.
• To find newspapers from a certain city, search in the Catalog, narrowing the format to Newspaper first (you can do this with other formats such as Journal/Periodical, but since we have access to so many more scholarly journals than popular magazines, you may not find the type of periodical you're after). Then select Publication Place in the search bar and enter the name of the town or city, adding quotes for place names with more than one word, e.g. "Los Angeles". 
• To search for a specific article (for which you have a citation, ideally with the publication and date), try searching first in the Articles+ tab, making sure to unselect the pre-applied "Not Content Type: Newspaper Article." If the article is not returned, follow the above instructions to search for the name of the newspaper or magazine in the Catalog. If you do not find it, or if we do not have coverage for the date on which the article appeared, you can put in an ILL request for the article. Try to include as much information on the request as you can, and know that this approach will take some time. 

Here are direct links to the CLIO records for commonly requested news sources:

Here are links to some library databases that provide full-text news from a wide variety of papers, magazines, broadcasts, blogs, etc.

These are some selected streaming music & audio databases available to the Barnard/Columbia community. When off-campus, you'll need a UNI to log-in to the databases.

For a full, up-to-date list of video databases that Barnard/Columbia subscribe to, click this CLIO link.

These are some selected streaming video databases available to the Barnard/Columbia community. When off-campus, you'll need a UNI to log-in to the databases.

For a full, up-to-date list of video databases that Barnard/Columbia subscribe to, click this CLIO link or check Columbia's guide to streaming video.

College students that attend New York State colleges but are studying remotely from home out of the state/country may still apply for NYPL cards! 

If you are currently located in New York State

Your Barnard Personal Librarian

1. Make an appointment with your Personal Librarian
2. At your appointment, fill out the form and get your card right there!
3. Your card may take a week to activate

Using the SimplyE app

1. Download the SimplyE app
2. Click Find Your Library and choose the New York Public Library
3. Click Settings, then Accounts, then New York Public Library
4. Click "Don't have a library card? Sign up" and enter the information
5. Note: You must enable location services to sign up for a library card, but you only need them during the initial sign--up
6. Go to any NYPL branch to get your physical card!

If you are located outside of New York State

1. Download and fill out the application below [PDF file].
2. You must use the Barnard address as your local address.
3. You must also include a pin number (4 digits).
4. Email your application/info to georgebruce@nypl.org. Use this subject in the email: NYPL Card Application. 
5. NYPL staff can process these applications onsite and email you your library card number

Compiled Lists of Free E-Resources

Selected Resources (New York Specific)

Milstein Centers

Milstein Library Special Collections