Kelvin Smith Library is your partner in research & engagement, instruction, and digital scholarship!
General Library Services
Collection Access
Books, journal articles, databases, A/V items and more available through the library catalog. If KSL doesn’t have what you’re looking for then check OhioLINK, our state consortium, or Search Ohio that provides content from academic and public libraries throughout the state delivered directly to KSL. If all else fails, connect with our Interlibrary Loan department to request books, chapters, articles, and more that will be mailed or scanned and sent from libraries around the world.
Building Access
Swipe your CWRU ID at the Welcome Desk each time you enter the building.
Accessibility Services
New accessibility resources are available including HathiTrust, a digital resource of academic and research work, along with other assistive software programs.
Equipment Lending
From cameras and tripods to video projectors and media players, KSL lends a variety of equipment that can support your teaching and research.
Loan Periods
Most circulating books have a one-year fixed due date in May, which may be renewed one time for an additional year, barring holds or recalls.
Any questions about library access, services, spaces, and requests for support can be directed to ASKSL!
Partners in Research & Engagement
Research and Engagement Services
KSL Research and Engagement Librarians are skilled library experts and subject-specialists ready to provide faculty and students information about all services and collections of the library. A librarian is appointed as liaison to each academic department. Check with the KSL website or your department chair for the name of your librarian liaison.
- Finding a specific resource, item, or information
- Effectively using an item, resource, or service
- Consultations on course and assignment design, working directly with classes, teaching sessions in the library or classroom on a wide variety of topics relating to research in all disciplines
- Advise on using remote instructional materials in KSL's Canvas Instruction Hub or Research Guide for Information Literacy Instruction
- One-on-one meetings or faculty department meetings, department seminars, presentations, and events.
The Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship
The Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship located on level one of the Kelvin Smith Library, provides technology, tools, resources, and expertise to explore research and development in new ways and advance the creation and communication of scholarship in any discipline.
- Project consultations, in-person or virtual
- Support for technology-assisted scholarship and communication in all disciplines, at any stage of the research lifecycle
- Workshops, Classes, and Events on the use of digital scholarship related tools and pedagogy
- Publishing and sharing support for open access research
- Annual funding opportunities for both faculty and students through the Freedman Fellows Program
Refer to the Digital Scholarship team page for more about subject-matter experts, or you can email any query to freedmancenter@case.edu.
Open Access Publishing Support
CWRU Libraries provide resources and support for publishing, sharing, storing, and promoting your scholarship.
Scholarly Commons is an open access institutional repository dedicated to showcasing CWRU faculty, staff, and student scholarship and making scholarly works available to the world. Learn about the opportunities available at CWRU to publish open access at no cost with select publishers here.
Please contact us for more information or with questions at scholarlycomm@case.edu.
University Archives and Special Collections
University Archives and Special Collections is home to Kelvin Smith Library’s rare books and manuscripts collections and the institutional records of Case Western Reserve University. The Henry R. Hatch Reading Room is available for instruction on the use of primary source and visual literacy, provides students with engagement to unique resources and contextualizes historical objects and events. The Archives documents the university’s history and is a reliable source of information about university programs, people, policies, and property.
Partners in Instruction
The teaching team at KSL can support research skills development through instruction sessions, self-paced tutorials, and other learning activities. In addition to skills such as finding, evaluating, and using a wide variety of information sources, KSL provides instruction on a range of digital scholarship topics and using materials in University Archives and Special Collections.
Instruction Hub
Canvas modules developed by Librarians for research, information, and technology topics, including digital scholarship, plagiarism, GIS and more. The modules can be shared publicly or embedded in your CWRU courses.
Library Instruction Sessions
Customizable, in-person library instruction sessions with subject liaisons
- Information literacy and research skills, literature search strategies, evaluating and analyzing information
- Scholarly Communications (copyright, Digital Humanities, digital tools)
- Special Collections and Archives (collection oriented instruction)
Course Reserves
Set aside library owned or personal copies of books, DVDs/Blu-ray discs, and CDs to supplement class material.