Access to Electronic Journals

Instructions for accessing the Boston Public Library Bibliographic Databases

Step 1. Sign-up for a Boston Public Library eCard (if you don’t have a BPL card already).

All MA residents can sign up for a Boston Public Library (BPL) eCard.

Register FAQs Regarding eCards

Step 2. Access BPL’s electronic resources.

With a BPL eCard, you can access the BPL’s electronic resources, which includes their online databases, e-Journals, and Google Scholar.

Access BPL Electronic Resources

Boston Public Library E-Journals

List of Boston Public Library journals that may be of interest

Note: A listing of all BPL e-journals can be found here.

Accessing Materials Outside of the BPL

While the BPL’s holdings are extensive, there may be article citations that you find but for which you cannot access the full text through the BPL. You have a few possible next steps:

1. Search for the title of the article in “regular” Google. Oftentimes articles are posted on websites for other reasons (e.g., the researcher posts a copy on their personal website), so this is always a good first next step.
2. If you don’t find it through a web search, you can request it through the BPL’s Interlibrary Loan Service (ILL) using their online form.

Request Article

• Note 1: ILL services are for full-service BPL cards, not eCards. Therefore, you will need to upgrade your eCard
  Upgrade
• Note 2: It can take up to several weeks for articles to be sent to you.
3. If neither of these options work, consider contacting the author directly; often his/her contact information can be found via a Google search of his/her name.