Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon University Community,
It is my great pleasure to welcome new and returning students, faculty and staff to Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, your destination to access a wide range of specialists and services that can advance your research, teaching and learning at the university. Below, you’ll find highlights for the semester, as well as a few reminders about our Libraries services and resources. You can always find us at our locations.
Fall 2024 Highlights
- As the premier destination for knowledge acquisition and research at CMU, the Libraries continues to redefine in both traditional and future-focused domains. This year, our work deepens in new initiatives such as the consolidation of university press activities, as well as the launch of Open Forum for AI (OFAI), which leverages CMU’s AI expertise to shape responsible AI development. Both are a testament to the Libraries’ role as a collaborative, interdisciplinary force for innovation on campus and beyond.
- This semester, we’re rebooting our Libraries Student Advisory Council with a focus on celebrating student life and experiences. Members will work alongside the University Archives to identify and collect key stories from various student organizations across campus. Any undergraduate or graduate student is welcome to submit an application and join in this effort to preserve your own unique journey at CMU.
- You can also experience a vivid example of documented student experiences in the current exhibition in the Hunt Library Gallery: “Like, Totally Transformative: CMU in the 1980s,” a portal to the past that showcases a decade of technological transformation across campus. Our fourth floor exhibition, “Here to Stay: Celebrating 40 Years at the Architecture Archives,” more broadly documents the conception, design and construction of our region’s built environment.
Service and Resource Reminders
- Our physical spaces, including De Fer Coffee & Tea at Maggie Murph Cafe, the Sustainability Studio and The Den in Sorrells Library provide neutral meeting venues for the CMU community and beyond. If you’re looking for a space to relax with some casual reading, our new Sci-Fi Station on the second floor of Hunt Library features Hugo and Nebula award finalists published over the past seven years. You can also reserve a spot for quiet or collaborative study in Hunt or Sorrells using our space reservation system.
- As part of the Libraries' mission to ensure our locations enhance the quality of the student experience at CMU, Hunt Library is now offering extended hours for the fall. With a valid CMU ID, you can access study spaces until 3 a.m. daily.
- The Libraries Catalog contains records for the majority of our physical and digital collections, including more than two million eBooks and 250,000 online journals. Additional resources include books, peer-reviewed articles, journals, music scores, audio CDs, conference proceedings, government documents, film, digital images and more. If you need access to materials CMU does not own, you can request materials from other institutions using the ILLiad or E-Z Borrow Services. Explore our growing technology lending collection of devices available for you to borrow, including iPads, calculators, charging cables, headphones, portable DVD drives, music foot pedals and more.
- All faculty, staff and students can access journals and newspapers through the library, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and more.
- Faculty and researchers can publish their work free of charge thanks to open access agreements with Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), American Chemical Society (ACS), PLoS and Wiley. Research Information Management Services brings together tools to amplify the impact of CMU research and explore data insights, such as Scholars@CMU, a profile service supported by Elements that allows faculty to curate a scholarly profile and indicate their willingness and availability for media appearances and public engagements.
- Meet funders’ open access requirements when you deposit your scholarly outputs and research data in KiltHub, the comprehensive institutional repository and research collaboration platform for CMU.
- Our public workshops are offered both in person and virtually. Find sessions text mining, R, data and citation management, arts entrepreneurship and more. Explore the events calendar to see what else is coming up.
It’s an exciting time at the Libraries. We have much more to offer than what is listed here. Explore the many ways to connect with our helpful staff and faculty, or for more targeted assistance, contact your departmental librarian.
I invite you to stay informed by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Instagram to learn about new services, events, exhibits and resources.
Wishing you each a successful semester ahead,
Keith Webster
Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries
Director of Emerging & Integrative Media Initiatives
Upcoming Events
Constitution Day 2024: DIY Postcards for a Stronger Democracy
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 5 p.m., Hunt Library, Sustainability Studio
Civic engagement is a key part of all our lives on campus and will help shape the future for students, faculty and staff alike. For this year’s Constitution Day event, we invite students to create a voting plan and help hold their peers accountable. Join us in Hunt Library to create postcards, share snacks and win prizes as we celebrate historical and present-day political awareness.