A partnership between the Elon University Belk Library and the Office of Alumni Engagement will make it possible for alumni to access a variety of library resources and services.
In an effort to support the lifelong learning needs of Elon’s growing alumni body, the Office of Alumni Engagement has teamed up with Belk Library to offer alumni access to selected library services.
Before now, access to library resources would end upon graduation. Joan Ruelle, dean and university librarian, said database vendors often contractually restrict libraries to only provide access to current students, faculty and staff. But as more libraries have contacted database vendors to pursue alumni access, she said some vendors have begun to modify contracts to extend access to the alumni community.
“Alumni are an important part of the community of Elon University, and while many do not live locally to visit ‘Club Belk’ in person and use materials on-site, we are happy to be able to support their research and scholarly pursuits with the addition of alumni access to these high quality resources,” Ruelle said.
Among the selected online research databases available to alumni are Sage, which includes scholarly journals covering the humanities, social sciences and sciences, technology and medicine; Project Muse, which includes scholarly journals covering the humanities and social sciences; and RefWorks, an online research management, writing and collaboration tool.
> Learn more about what library resources are available to alumni.
“We know our alumni have strong information literacy skills— the ability to identify an information need, and then to seek and evaluate information to find and apply the best resources to meet that need,” Ruelle said. “Having access to these resources will allow them to inform their decisions as well as support their intellectual curiosity so they can continue to explore scholarly questions that may have been sparked during their years at Elon.”
She added that while there are many free sources of information available online, Elon graduates have become accustomed to using high-quality information that has been vetted through the scholarly, peer review process.
This partnership aligns with Belk Library’s efforts to provide information resources to support all aspects of the life of the university and the Office of Alumni Engagement’s goal to support alumni’s lifelong learning needs.