The McGill University Library and Archives is committed to delivering excellent services, collections, and facilities to support teaching, learning and research. Search the Library website to find and access collections as well as to learn about Library services, such as e-resources and special after-hours building access for faculty members and researchers.
Library staff members can provide guidance on the extensive electronic and print holdings, as well as the services and facilities available in each of our branch libraries. Liaison librarians provide valuable course-based information literacy training for students, helping them locate and use relevant information. Each department at McGill has its own liaison librarian who can create course-specific guides for your programs, emphasizing resources relevant to your students.
The McGill Library houses over six million items in 12 branch libraries across the University’s downtown and Macdonald campuses. Holdings include over 60,000 e-journals and over 2 million e-books. There are hundreds of online journal article indexes and databases covering every disciplinary area from art to zoology. World-class collections house a wealth of treasures ranging from Assyrian and Babylonian tablets, Abraham Lincoln busts, and Indonesian puppets in our Rare Books and Special Collections, to the Osler Library’s outstanding collections on the history of medicine. Extensive numeric and statistical data is available through the Electronic Data Resources Service (EDRS). Digitization projects make the Library’s collections globally accessible, and include material as diverse as the Canadian War Poster Collection, and books out of copyright.
Many journal articles formerly included in course readers are now available online from the Library in the Course Reserves Module. The Library creates deep links directly to e-journal articles and e-books reducing your dependence on course packs. The Library can assist with the creation of deep links in myCourses (WebCT Vista) and we link all your course readings, syllabus and reserve material in the Course Reserve Module.
Peruse the accompanying user guide entitled Being Connected: Services for Faculty or visit our website to learn about the comprehensive services, collections and facilities available. Citation management software and training classes are also available free of charge to all McGill staff and students. For more information, visit the library's website.
A McGill ID card is essential to access the libraries. If required, you may obtain temporary access to the libraries by presenting a letter written by the Chair of your department to the Associate Director, Client Services requesting this on your behalf.
