This message addresses recent changes to our library services and shares some exciting developments that will improve how you discover and access research materials.

What's changing and why it matters to your research:

As many of you are aware, last year, we faced a budget cut after the fiscal year had started, which reduced the acquisition budget by 6%. Our only option was to pause the acquisition of print materials and other types of one-time purchases. For FY-2026, we have made a number of strategic choices to restore our book purchasing and ensure that no discipline, and particularly the humanities, is facing an inordinate amount of the burden of those cuts. Among those strategic choices, we recently ended our OCLC/WorldCat membership (the expense was a substantial amount), and we're using this transition as an opportunity to improve the discovery of scholarly resources in meaningful ways. Among the implications of ending this membership is the fact that Brandeis holdings will no longer appear in WorldCat.

Current access solutions:

  • For Brandeis materials: OneSearch remains your most comprehensive tool for our collections.
  • Search beyond Brandeis: Use Brandeis and More to broaden your search beyond Brandeis collections and request materials from other libraries through interlibrary loan (ILL).
  • OneSearch is optimized to be fully indexed by Google, making Brandeis holdings more discoverable through the search methods many of you already use daily.
  • For materials at other libraries: Visit worldcat.org directly, then copy the citation details into our streamlined ILL request form.

Enhanced discovery coming soon:

We're collaborating with a group of leading research libraries—including NYU, UPenn, and Stanford—to create a next-generation, openly accessible catalog using modern linked data technology. This will provide more sophisticated search capabilities and better integration with digital scholarship tools than traditional systems.

Our commitment to you:

These changes reflect our dedication to maintaining strong collections in a variety of formats across all disciplines that support innovative research and teaching.

Please share your questions and feedback as we navigate these changes together.