When students graduate from Penn State, the Penn State Alumni Association can keep them connected to the University with a free year of membership that includes personal and professional benefits. One of these benefits is the Alumni Library offering access to a wealth of premium online databases and resources. And the Libraries’ “Ask A Librarian” tab can assist you as you uncover the history of Penn State, explore academic journals and research other interests.
The Alumni Library website features visual prompts that will lead you to collections of scholarly resources that Penn State librarians have selected as authoritative. You can also browse digitized University collections that are easy to use and accessible through this collaboration between the Alumni Association and University Libraries.
To access the Alumni Library’s premium databases, users must log in with their ID included on their Alumni Association membership card. A visual aid is available on the website, showing you where that information is located on the card. The Alumni Library also includes public information resources that are organized under topic-specific categories and merged with the databases that require you to log in.
Once you’re online, there are 75-plus highly skilled, professional, engaged librarians who can guide you through the process of locating information that you’re looking for — available through the “Ask A Librarian” tab located on the right-hand side of the screen.
The “Ask A Librarian” tab is available for all users of the University Libraries and Alumni Library websites, and, on average, response time is less than 30 seconds after submitting an online chat question. Because many librarians conduct and publish scholarly research in their respective areas of expertise, some questions are referred to librarian subject specialists to help ensure that inquiries receive the most appropriate response.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for by searching the Libraries’ digital collections, including La Vie and Daily Collegian archives, Ask a Librarian questions may be directed to the Research Services Team of the Special Collections Library, which also is the home of Penn State’s University Archives.
There are many additional benefits of Alumni Association membership and more information is available at alumni.psu.edu/membership to learn more.
An 8.5×11 promotional PDF with information about the Alumni Library is available for download to print or share with colleagues.