Case Western Reserve University’s libraries offer an extensive collection of books, journals, databases, digital materials and more. Librarians at each can help you navigate CWRU’s network of libraries and their vast array of resources and services.
Kelvin Smith Library
Kelvin Smith Library research and engagement librarians are assigned to each academic department in arts and sciences, engineering and management. Librarians are available to assist in finding resources, collaborating on research, and developing the best strategies customized to each unique research need. KSL librarians can also assist faculty with research and scholarship impact metrics and citation management tools. In addition, the library provides almost 600 major databases that provide access to journals, newspapers, e-books, data, media, etc. Research guides highlight key resources for each discipline or major research areas around campus.
- Research Librarians
- Instruction Request
- Databases
- Digital Case
- Scholarly Commons
- OhioLINK Catalog
- HathiTrust
- Research Guides:
Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship
Kelvin Smith Library’s Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship collaborates with faculty, staff, and students to expand and create new digital research using the tools and services of the center. Our team works in consultation with researchers to offer hands-on assistance with technology and pedagogy that would creatively develop or enhance any topic of study or instruction. The center also offers annual Freedman Fellowships for both faculty and students, which provides money and support for digital projects. For more information or support on any of these services, please contact freedmancenter@case.edu.
- Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship
- Digital Scholarship @ CWRU
- Freedman Faculty Fellows
- Freedman Student Fellows
University Archives and Special Collections
University Archives and Special Collections is home to the Kelvin Smith Library’s rare books and manuscripts collections, and the records of Case Western Reserve University. We support and promote the use of these unique and distinctive collections through acquisition, management, preservation and exhibition of our holdings. The University Archives maintains the corporate memory of CWRU by preserving and using university records and publications of continuing value. Special Collections preserves, describes and provides access to unique archival collections and rare books for researchers on campus and across the globe.
The Judge Ben C. Green Law Library
The Ben C. Green Law Library offers ample resources for nearly legal inquiry, including more than 700 electronic services, library catalogs, a wide range of software services and extensive archives of law student faculty works. As a federal depository library, it holds original documents of the U.S. government.
Lillian and Milford Harris Library
Located within the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, the Lillian and Milford Harris Library was founded in 1916 and is the oldest social work library in the country. Today, it is one of just a few libraries in the country dedicated entirely to social work literature and scholarship.
The Harris Library's collection is closely aligned with our curriculum, and offers robust social work, social welfare, community development and nonprofit management research resources. We have strong collections in the concentrations of aging, direct practice, community practice/social change, children/youth/families, health, mental health and substance/use disorders and recovery. Our librarians partner closely with faculty, doctoral students, affiliated center researchers and community partners to do social policy research, practice evaluation, systematic reviews, search strategy building and refinement and working with citation management tools.
Cleveland Health Sciences Library
Cleveland Health Sciences Library (CHSL) serves as the library system for the faculty, staff and students at the schools of medicine, dental medicine, and the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. The library operates in two locations: the main branch in Allen Memorial Medical Library and the ancillary branch at the Health Education Campus. Librarians are available to support researchers and stakeholders in finding and organizing information and resources, collaborating on research and with publication support services. The CHSL provides a variety of specialized services.
Examples of services include:
- Systematic review and meta analysis services
- Federally funded grant support and compliance
- Data management
- ORCID
- Copyright
- Journal selection (author requirements, Open Access, predatory journals, etc.)
- Journal analytics for grant support
CWRU researchers can reach out to the Cleveland Health Sciences Library at chslreference@case.edu to get personalized support for research needs.
Allen Memorial Medical Library
The Allen Memorial Medical Library has a broad collection of resources supporting medical education, clinical and basic sciences, nursing and nursing education, dentistry and dental education, and history of the health sciences. The CHSL also has special collections of rare and historical books dating back to 1471. CHSL resources include, in both electronic and print formats: books, journals, databases, audiovisuals and multimedia. Health sciences librarians are on site to assist patrons in person, and virtually in their research needs.
Health Education Campus Library
The Health Education Campus Library is both a quiet study area and an area where students can check out books or reserve spaces for courses taught in that building and educational space. Health sciences librarians are on site to assist patrons in-person and virtually with their research needs.