10 Library Things Every New UCB School of Public Health Student Should Know: Do You Know..?

     See Connecting from Off Campus:

• Use the Library Proxy, which allows remote access to web-based electronic resources licensed by the UC or UCB Libraries, via Calnet logon or a bookmarklet, or...
• Use the VPN (Virtual Private Network), which requires a software download, and then establishes a secure library tunnel to the UCB network.


• WiFi: When on campus, connect using:
  • eduroam, a network used at UCB and at institutions worldwide.
    • Here is a Very Quick Guide to UCB WiFi Setup (docx).
    • Here is a 28 second video on setting up eduroam.
  • Berkeley-Visitor (the public wifi) will require you to authenticate with CalNet to access library resources.

     See Public Health Databases:

• PubMed: citations in biomedicine and health; the primary article index for most public health topics.
  » PubMed exercise set (docx).
• Global Health: citations on public health topics from journals, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, and more, from more than 150 countries and in over 50 languages translated into English.
• Embase: journal article and meeting abstract citations in medicine/health; especially strong in evidence-based medicine and pharmacology/toxicology.
• PsycINFO: citations for journal articles, book chapters and dissertations in psychology, behavior, and related disciplines.
• Sociological Abstracts: covers demography, education, social psychology, and sociology. Sources include journals, books, conferences, and dissertations.
  » Sociological Abstracts exercise (docx).
• Agricultural & Environmental Science: indexes journals, conference proceedings, reports, books, and government publications covering all areas of environmental science, agriculture, and more.
• Business Source Complete: citations for articles, company information, and more in business, marketing, economics, and finance.
• Compendex: Journal articles, conference proceedings, technical reports and more in engineering and technology.


• Use Web of Science or Scopus: two large, multidisciplinary databases that are excellent for cited reference searching and citation analysis.
  » Web of Science cited reference searching exercise.
• Many more databases are available.
• Here is a brief note about  for electronic resources.

See Journal Search:

• Click the Get it at UC icon  next to a citation in an article database to access items available online.
• TIP: Simply copy/paste the article title into UC Library Search, the all-UC catalog/discovery tool. If the article is available online, you should see a link there.
• Browse or search for online journals using the UC Library Search Journal Search.
• Use BrowZine: a free tablet application that lets you browse, read and monitor thousands of scholarly journals available from the UC Berkeley Library.

See UC Library Search User Guide:

• UC Library Search is the University of California's unified catalog, discovery, and borrowing system.
• Log on using CalNet, click your name (upper right), then "Library Account" to see what you have checked out.
• Take a look at some of the newest Public Health books and ebooks!
• Browse or search for online journals using the UC Library Search Journal Search.
• The UCB Library also licenses several databases to find dissertations online.
• Links to online course reserves are generally found in bCourses.
• TIP: All UCB Libraries have free scanning of print material. Save to your flash drive, email the PDF to yourself, upload it to Box, etc.

See Interlibrary Borrowing Service:

• Please do not pay for an article!
• Click the Get it at UC icon  then Request through Interlibrary Loan to request an article, book chapter, or other item that you find in a database; you should get a PDF delivered to you shortly.
• Or, search UC Library Search for the item needed. If it is not available at UCB, click "Request from Interlibrary Loan" in an item record to access the request form. PDFs of articles and book chapters will be emailed to you; entire books will be delivered to the campus library of your choice.

Citation Management Help: EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, Mendeley, etc.:

• Zotero, a free, open-source program you can use with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari.
• RefWorks – licensed by the UC Berkeley Library and free to use for UCB students, staff, and faculty.
• Purchase EndNote and install it on your computer. A free 30 day trial is available, and a UC discount is also often available.
• Mendeley, another free product, to organize and share references. (UC Berkeley's access to the Mendeley Institutional Edition will end January 2023; the free version will still be available).
  • Note: Neither RefWorks nor Mendeley will work with the free version of Microsoft Word that is available for UCB students.


• See also our Citation Guides/Submitting Manuscripts to Journals guide.
  TIP: The UC Berkeley Library will help pay author fees so you can publish in an open access journal!
• The UC Berkeley Student Learning Center Writing Program has lots of information on the writing process, topic development, revision, and much more.
• UCB's Graduate Division sponsors workshops on dissertation writing, academic grant proposal writing, and more.
• Working on a systematic review? Sign up for UC Berkeley's Covidence account!

See Guides to Public Health Subjects:

• Curated web guides of the "grey literature" on Public Health topics.
• Topics include Statistics/Data, AIDS/HIV, Cancer, Environmental Health, Food/Nutrition, International Health, Legislation/Regulations, and many more.
• These research guides provide access to curated resources not generally available via article databases or library catalogs, each with a descriptive annotation.
• Also included are public health resources in multiple formats, including: data, dissertations, videos, images, and more; including news sources:
  • UCB subscribes to major dailies like the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc. from issue 1 to today's paper.
  • UCB students can get free access to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (details).

The Library can help with your free time too!

Want free art to hang in your home or office? Check out the Graphic Arts Loan Program. You can reserve a print online, but you must pick it up and return it in person. Includes works by Hiroshige Ando; Claudia Bernardi; Marc Chagall; Shiro Ikegawa; Yolanda M. Lopez; Roberto Matta; Gino Scarpa; and many more.
After being closed for two years because of COVID, the Graphic Arts Loan Collection is reopening this fall with an exhibition at the Worth Ryder Art Gallery (116 Anthropology + Art Practice Building, first floor). "Art for the Asking" will take place from August 24 to September 30, and from September 26-30, students will be able to come to the gallery and check prints out to take home with them. Gallery hours are 12-5pm, Monday through Friday.

Tired of watching Star Trek reruns? The Library subscribes to Kanopy Streaming - an on-demand streaming video service which provides access to more than 26,000 films, including titles from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation and more!
Another video service to check out is Docuseek2, featuring social issue and documentary films from several independent distributors.
Academic Video Online has almost 70,000 videos in most subject areas and also includes archival newsreels, animation, performances, and more.

And for your ears, the library provides you with several music databases, such as:
Database of Recorded American Music: Audio files of compositions of classical music, folk music, opera, jazz, country music, early rhythm and blues, musical theater, experimental music, electronic music, early rock and Native American music from the United States. Complete original liner notes and essays from independent record labels and sound archives, and...
Naxos Music Library: A collection of (mostly) Western classical music including classical music, jazz, world, folk, and Chinese music - perhaps a cello version of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust suits your fancy. Includes notes and biographical information on composers and artists.

You also have access to UC Berkeley OverDrive: access to digital audiobooks and popular ebooks.

For your reading pleasure, the Library offers an enormous fiction collection, as well as many popular magazines such as Consumer Reports; one recent acquisition is online access to Rolling Stone. We also have thousands of cookbooks of every cuisine.

You may also wish to explore your past using the UCB subscription to Ancestry Library (from ancestry.com): thousands of images, records, documents, etc. from 1790 to 1940.

Visit the UCB Library Makerspace and learn embroidery, sewing, vinyl cutting, button making, 3-D printing, and more.

See Research Help:

• The Marian Koshland Bioscience, Natural Resources & Public Health Library is open! (located, along with dinosaurs & more, in Valley Life Sciences Building).
  • Reference: You are welcome to make an appointment with me; I will meet you via email, Zoom, or in person.
• Contact a librarian for help with researching a topic or finding books, articles, statistics, etc.; we strive to provide you with respectful, thorough assistance.
• Public Health Librarian office hours are at the SPH DREAM Office, in person and via Zoom: Tuesday 4-5:30 PM, Thursday 1:30-3 PM; dro-ins welcome, and appointments also accepted.
• Email the Public Health Librarian directly to schedule a research appointment (online or in person); you can also contact one of the many subject specialist librarians at UCB.
• 24/7 IM chat reference and email reference are available for help at other times.
• Check out the Searching Literature Effectively Guide.
• Online library instruction sessions (Finding data, using Zotero, LaTeX, GIS, ...even sewing!) are sometimes offered. Here's a calendar.
• All UCB students are eligible for free software including Microsoft Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, as well as LastPass Premium, a secure password management tool.
• All students can get software and tech support at the Student Technology Services. Reach them at 510-642-4357 or sts-help@berkeley.edu.
• UCB students have access to Berkeley Box - with 50G of storage capacity!
• GradPro (from the UCB Graduate Division) has information on a huge number of professional development opportunities: workshops, consultations, working groups, and more. Check out their calendar.
  • GradPro also offers individual consultations with Professional Development Liaisons help you take stock of your needs and get connected to resources that can support your professional development.
• Help with urgent student needs (mental health, food, cash, housing, and much more) is also available at UC Berkeley.

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