Can guests and alumni access library resources?
Can guests, visiting researchers, students at other colleges or universities, members of the community, or alumni access library resources?
Answer
The SDSU Library is open to alumni members and guests. Please check our Services for Alumni and Community Users page for the current policy.
Lifetime members of the SDSU Alumni Association may check out up to five print books at a time. San Diego County residents can request books from the SDSU collection using the Circuit catalog and the books will be sent to their local public library branch. For more information, see http://circuit.sdsu.edu/
What is available online?
The SDSU Library provides access to content the University owns in digital format, such as SDSU theses, dissertations, university records, the student newspaper, and campus yearbooks, which can be found through our Digital Collections.
Databases with Free Access: The library maintains a list of databases with free content that are of interest to researchers. Find the free database list on our Database A-Z site.
San Diego Public Library & San Diego County Library: Both the SD Public Library eLibrary & the SD County Library eLibrary have a wide range of article databases, streaming media, and ebooks. The SD Public Library Digital Archive also contains digitized items held in the city library collection. SD Public Library cards are free to California residents and members of the military stationed in San Diego County. SD County Library eCards are available to any San Diego County resident.
Public libraries also have reference librarians who can help you use their collections and get you started with your research.
Apply for an SDPL library card online
Apply for an SDCL library card online
SDSU Subscription Databases: Many of the subscription databases provided by the university library can be accessed on campus via the guest wi-fi. The library does not provide public computer access, and any alumni or guest will need to access this content via their own devices while on the guest wi-fi. Although a large number of databases are accessible via the guest wi-fi, the library also subscribes to a number of tools that require account creation using SDSU credentials that are not accessible to guests and alumni. Please browse the database A-Z to see if the database requires the creation of an account. Examples include: PrivCO, Covidence, SciFinder-N, and Pivot.