Talk to HKS Librarians

Whether you're still in Cambridge or halfway around the world, we can help you find free and locally available resources to support your work. Schedule a virtual or in-person meeting, or ask a question:

Subscribe to the HKS Library newsletter

Alumni can still attend library events, explore publicly available library resources like book displays, and more. Subscribe to the HKS Library newsletter to get the latest updates straight to your inbox.

If you already subscribed to the HKS Library newsletter while you were a student, make sure to update your subscription email so you can keep receiving newsletters after your HKS email expires. To do so:

  • In your email client, open any previously sent HKS Library newsletter (or any HKS newsletter).
  • Scroll all the way to the bottom of the email and click, "Unsubscribe or Update Email Preferences."
  • You'll be taken to a webpage titled "Communications Preference Center." In the "My Subscriptions" tab under "Contact Information," change your email from an HKS address to a personal one.
  • Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click the red "Update Preference" button.
  • You'll now receive HKS newsletters to your personal email.

Visit Harvard Libraries

HKS alumni can visit Harvard libraries, including the HKS Library. To do so, you'll need to request a free Library Borrowing Card (scroll down on that page under "How to Request Library Access" and click the blue "Apply Now" button).

If you're visiting the HKS Library, enter HKS via the Wexner building. You'll need to show your Library Borrowing Card and a photo ID at the Wexner Security window. Shortly after Commencement, you can no longer use your HUID to check out books or swipe into Harvard buildings.

Borrow Library Materials

With your free Library Borrowing Card, you can borrow physical materials (books, DVDs, etc.) from all Harvard libraries.

Access Digital Resources & Technology

With your free Library Borrowing Card, you can use computers in all Harvard libraries.

Using the computers on-site will give you full access to Harvard Library's digital resources, including databases, research articles, and news sources.


At HKS, you can use the guest computers in the Library Commons. These computers have the following software installed on them:

  • Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, and Publisher)
  • NVDA
  • VLC Media Player
  • Internet browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer)
  • Adobe Reader

You can print from the guest computers using an HUID or Crimson Cash Card:

  • Printing costs $0.08/page.
  • You can add value to either card at cash.harvard.edu.
  • You can also buy a Crimson Cash Card and add value to it at the Value Transfer Station located just outside the main HKS Library entrance, between the vending machines.
     
If you can't make it to a Harvard library, you can access select digital resources from anywhere with your HarvardKey, which automatically reflects your alumni status upon graduation. (Your HarvardKey username and password will stay the same.) Explore the full list of Harvard-licensed digital resources available to alumni.

News Subscriptions

Your Harvard Library subscriptions to news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post vary on how long after graduation they'll expire. You will need to purchase your own subscriptions after this happens. You can still access unlimited news articles from on-site computers in Harvard libraries using the "Harvard Login" links in our News & Media Studies guide.

Tech Checklist for Graduating Students

HKSIT has compiled a guide of the steps you'll need to take to save the emails, contacts, files, and course materials you've collected during your time at HKS and may need in the future. Some of these items are time-sensitive, so please consult the checklist early and often. IT's guide includes info on:

  • Your HarvardKey
  • Your HKS email account
  • Your emails, contacts and calendar
  • Saving your files
  • Accessing Canvas and course materials
  • Accessing Knet
  • Accessing IT resources like Zoom, my.Harvard, password managers, software, and CrimsonPrint

Deleting Data

If while at Harvard you have worked with sensitive data that fits the description of Data Security Level 3 (DSL3), you will need to delete or de-identify these data from all locations. Do not download them from OneDrive at their current sensitivity level. Please email rdm@hks.harvard.edu with questions on how to handle sensitive data when leaving Harvard.

Spring 2023 Presentation Slides

At the end of the Spring 2023 semester, HKSIT and the HKS Library offered two information sessions for graduating students on the Tech Checklist and library resources for HKS alumni. Slides from those information sessions are available as a PDF below.