Quick Start Guide
Looking for a quick list of essential services and resources for using the library? This summary will get you started and help make the most of your library experience.
Expert Help
- Chat online or text 215-543-7674 to chat live Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.
- Book a consultation with a librarian in your field of study.
- Send us a question any time! We’ll respond in 24 hours or less.
- Find your personal librarian. From Accounting to Veterinary Medicine, one of our subject specialists can tailor help to your particular focus.
- Browse our research guides in areas from African Studies and Architecture to Statistics and Veterinary Medicine.
- Register for a workshop where you'll learn fundamental research skills, explore the academic publishing process, discover important databases or online tools, and more.
Borrow Books and More
- Log in to your account to reserve materials or get them delivered, access interlibrary loan, and view the status of anything you’ve checked out.
- Search the catalog for books, journal articles, databases, CDs and DVDs, and anything else in the Penn Libraries collections.
- Get off-campus access to subscription materials like journals, databases, and e-books only available to Libraries users.
- Not finding what you need? Request a purchase for our collections.
- Find out how you can pick up books at a library location using our contactless lockers.
- Live more than 50 miles from Penn? Get books delivered to your home address.
- Request scans of articles or book chapters for quick delivery directly to your inbox.
- Conduct research with our unique and notable collections items, which include annotated musical scores, television scripts, medieval manuscripts, LGBTQ comic books, and lots more.
Library Spaces
- Find a collaborative or quiet study space in one of our nineteen individual libraries.
- Already know what space you’d like to book? Go ahead and reserve a room.
- Explore all of our library locations across Penn’s campus and beyond.
Technology
- Check out equipment you may need for papers, projects, or research, ranging from audio recording devices, to binoculars, to VR cameras.
- Learn about various kinds of software that can help you with research, study, data analysis, music and design production, and digital projects, and find out how to access it.
- Access software in one of our computer labs, or find out how to use the software on your own computer using our virtual computer lab.
- Find printers and copiers in library locations across campus.
- Visit the Vitale Digital Media Lab, our one-stop shop for everything you might need to complete your digital media project, including equipment, software, specialized printers, and expert help.
- Stuck? Contact the Library IT Helpdesk for assistance with permissions, passwords, and general technical support.
Teaching
- Get teaching and course support for the Canvas learning management system.
- Find and book a classroom space with the setup and technology that suits your needs.
- Set aside books, films, or sound recordings for class use with our Course Reserves service.