Due to the continuing library renovation, thesis desks will not be assigned for the 2022-2023 year.

Library shelving is available for thesis students in the north reference room.  Choose an empty shelf in the designated area and  sign up for your thesis shelf.  Questions – email Kelly Walker.

Over the summer, library staff have encountered some issues accessing electronic resources and discovered that the block is caused by the Zotero Connector browser add-on in both Chrome and Firefox.

If you already have the Zotero Connector installed, we recommend uninstalling and reinstalling it in all the browsers you use. (In our testing, we have found that first-time installations of the add-on seem to be unaffected.)

Visit our Zotero guide for quick access to the download link.

This summer, the library updated the proxy, a technical aspect of how we handle access to electronic resources from off-campus.

Despite extensive testing before the proxy update, we have recently received numerous reports from people having problems reaching our resources when working off-campus – these could be ebooks, databases, journals, or articles.

We know how frustrating it is to encounter a problem like this, and we all feel the start of the semester looming. We want to make sure you can access every electronic resource you need!

If you are experiencing issues, please try these common fixes:

Starting from a Bookmark

If you are starting from a bookmark in your browser, that bookmark may have old proxy information in it. To resolve this, try to reach the desired resource through our database A-Z list or through a catalog search, then create a new bookmark and delete the old one.

If you cannot reach the desired resource by any means, please report it to our help queue by emailing er-problem-report[at]reed.edu.

Starting from the Catalog

If you are starting from a catalog search, and you get an error when you try to open a link, it may be that the URL does not have the updated proxy prefix.

If you see the old prefix https://login.proxy.library.reed.edu/login?url= in front of the address, try to paste the new prefix in its place: https://reed.idm.oclc.org/login?url=

Whether that works or not, it would be very helpful if you could report the access problem to our help queue by emailing er-problem-report[at]reed.edu. We will work with the vendor and the proxy company to make sure that resource link is updated.

Reporting a Problem

If you do have to email a report to our help queue, please include the following details:

if you were on or off campus at the time

what operating system you use

what browser(s) you use

where you started (bookmark, A-Z list, catalog search, etc.)

what kind of problem you encountered

the name of the resource you wanted to reach

We’ve made some updates to the library catalog! On May 23rd, Reed Library updated our catalog software. The updated version is much easier for us to manage and maintain, allows us to add content faster, and gives us more options to meet your needs. It also isn’t all that different! Most features will work the same as you’re used to.

Check out some things that we’re excited about in the updated version:

• Search Reed, Summit, and Articles by default. Want to limit to just Reed materials like books, ebooks, and journals? Select the “Reed Library Only” dropdown.
• Search or browse electronic and print journals together in Journal Search.
• Easily explore Reed College theses via their own dropdown.
• From the PARC homepage, search for resources and then filter by Genre, Instrumentation, Musical Key, and more.
• From the Special Collections and Archives homepage, search for rare books, artists books and more, then filter by collection.
• We updated the colors a bit. Hopefully this will help highlight links at the top like our Featured Exhibits, where we highlight resources from past library book displays and bookclubs. Check out past MRC bookclub picks, or resources from the “The Legacy of Activism in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Diaspora” book exhibit.

Your saved searches: action required!

• “Saved searches” will NOT automatically transfer with the update. Before May 23rd, copy your saved searches and keep them safe. After May 23rd, you’ll need to recreate your search, following the instructions below.
• Don’t want your saved search anymore? No need to do anything.
• Don’t have any saved searches? No need to do anything.
• “Saved items” and any labels you’ve added will be copied into the updated catalog; no need to save and recreate these.

How to keep your saved searches

• Before May 23rd, login to your saved searches in My Favorites in the library catalog.
• Copy your saved search list, and paste it somewhere safe like a text file or google doc.
• After May 23rd, go to the library catalog, and login.
• One at a time, do a search for your query, and select any scopes or filters you want to apply.
• Select the “Save query” pin, right above the search results.
• Repeat for all your saved searches.
• Check that all searches were saved under My Favorites > Saved Searches.
• If you’d like, you can select to receive email or RSS notifications to new additions to your search.

Need help? Reach out to library@reed.edu.

If you would like to checkout books over the summer or extend the ones you have, please stop by the circulation desk. A library staff member will update your account accordingly.