Welcome New Students

Welcome to Dartmouth College Libraries! Please consult this site to help you become familiar with Dartmouth Libraries and identify key services and personal contacts you may find helpful in your first weeks at Dartmouth.

The Dartmouth College Library is...

• A system of 9 libraries serving the College & Medical Center campuses.
• An extensive collection of materials and research tools in all formats
• A staff of over 160 dedicated to supporting your research.

What's different from your high school library?

Here are a few examples.

Multiple libraries on campus, each with a subject specialty:

• Baker-Berry: the largest library—houses the humanities, social sciences, and math collections.
• Dana Library: at the Medical School—houses the biomedical collection.
• Feldberg Library: at the end of Tuck Mall—houses the business and engineering collections.
• Kresge Library: in Fairchild Hall—houses the physical sciences collections.
• Matthews-Fuller Library: at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center—houses current clinical and consumer health collections.
• Paddock Library: in the Hopkins Center—houses the music collection.
• Rauner Library: in Webster Hall—houses the College archives, rare book, manuscript and special collections.
• Sherman Library: in Carpenter Hall—houses the art and architecture collections.
• Storage Library: offsite (Rt. 120 in Lebanon)—houses older and low-use materials.

Multiple service points in our larger libraries:

• Circulation: borrowing and returning library materials; finding missing materials.
• Information Desk: general library information.
• Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan: when Dartmouth doesn't own the material you need.
• Reference: help getting started with your research; using databases and catalogs; specialized help.
• Reserves: required materials (readings/video/audio) reserved for your class.

Call number system:

Most of our collection uses the Library of Congress ("LC") classification, which organizes material by subject (just like Dewey Decimal), but starts with letters instead of numbers. Library of Congress classification assigns letters of the alphabet to subjects. For instance, in the "J" section of Berry level 4, you will find books on political science.

A Map and guide to the stacks of Baker-Berry library will help you identify where the books are located according to Library of Congress classification.

Library of Congress Classification

• A — GENERAL WORKS
• B — PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION
• C — AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY
• D — WORLD HISTORY AND HISTORY OF EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, ETC.
• E — HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
• F — HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
• G — GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION
• H — SOCIAL SCIENCES
• J — POLITICAL SCIENCE
• K — LAW
• L — EDUCATION
• M — MUSIC AND BOOKS ON MUSIC
• N — FINE ARTS
• P — LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
• Q — SCIENCE
• R — MEDICINE
• S — AGRICULTURE
• T — TECHNOLOGY
• U — MILITARY SCIENCE
• V — NAVAL SCIENCE
• Z — BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE. INFORMATION RESOURCES (GENERAL)

24-7 Access:

• The Library Web Site (http://library.dartmouth.edu/) gives you 24-hour access to many of our resources and services
• Search the library catalog to find locations and call numbers of items in our collection.
• Use your Campus ID Card to borrow books or other library materials, including course reserves.
• 24 hour study space: The 1902 Room in Baker and the Novack Café in Berry are open 24 hours a day with your ID. The café is open until 2am during sessions.