Baker Library Policies

Baker Library serves the Harvard Business School community, as well as Harvard University, alumni, and researchers from around the world.

Visit Baker Library and Additional Harvard Libraries + Borrowing

• Visiting researchers without a current photo Harvard University ID may arrange access and borrowing at libraries across Harvard, including Baker Library, by applying at Harvard Library Access Cards.
  • A fee may be required.
  • A visit to the Harvard Library Access and Borrowing Office in Widener Library may be required to complete your application.

Visit Only Baker Library

• Visiting researchers without a current photo Harvard University ID may arrange access limited to the Baker Library Stamps Reading Room on the 3rd Floor of Baker Library | Bloomberg Center during Main Desk hours.
  • A fee may be required and must be paid by American Express, MasterCard, or Visa using a personal cell phone or other personal device.
  • Use the Fee and Requirements chart below to determine fee and required documentation.

Photo IDs used as part of the application process are valid if they:

• Are government issued (including a valid date)
• Include the name of an accredited, degree granting institution (academic affiliation will be confirmed by checking the applicant’s name in their school's online directory)

Planning Your Visit

When planning a visit to the Stamps Reading Room, please Ask Us for help to ensure a research trip involving significant time and expense is worthwhile. Visiting researchers may:

• Enter the Stamps Reading Room during Main Desk hours.
• Use our licensed databases available to Authorized Baker Visitors; people who have entered the reading room according to the Fee and Requirements chart below.

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives is open to all members of the Harvard University community and to visiting researchers. For more information and to plan your visit, please see Special Collections and Archives - Visit Us.

Fee and Requirements for Authorized Baker Visitors

* Borrowing can be arranged by applying at Harvard Library Access Cards.

** IDs other than Harvard must include a date to be valid.

Baker Library's circulating items may be borrowed by current HBS and HU faculty, staff, and student holders of Harvard University ID cards. Additional researchers may borrow items according to the Fee and Requirements chart above.

Proxy borrowing on behalf of faculty is encouraged for HBS Faculty Support Specialists and HBS Research Associates. 

Please note that many items in Baker's collections are not eligible for borrowing and are for in-library use only. Examples of non-circulating items include journals, microforms, reference items, and materials from our Special Collections.

Loan Periods

*Term due dates are February 10 and September 10 each year.

Renewals

To renew an item, go to HOLLIS and use the "My Account" feature. For assistance, please Ask Us.

After five renewals, materials must be brought to the library to be checked out again in person.

Recalls

Material you have on loan might be recalled.

If an item you have is recalled, a recall notice will be sent via email. 

All borrowers, regardless of category, who do not respond promptly to recalls will be fined and may be subject to suspension of library borrowing privileges.

Fines

• Recall item fine: $3/day 
• Lost book fees: $100 minimum (replacement and processing fee and recall fines may increase fine)

Partners of HBS students are eligible for library benefits using their photo Harvard ID card. 

Registration is required:

• MBA students: See Partner Benefits and Registration (HBS login required).
• Doctoral students: Contact the Doctoral Program Office.

Baker Library HBS Student Partner Benefits 

Consultations with a Baker Librarian

• Partners may arrange appointments with a Baker librarian by contacting us. Be sure to include key topics you would like to discuss and your availability. Baker librarians can assist with:
  • Developing your target company list
  • Researching companies
  • Researching for interview prep

Database Access

• On-site access to a variety of databases for Authorized Baker Visitors.
  • Primary resources for job search include: Refinitiv Workspace (creating target lists of companies), Factiva (for researching companies in depth), and American City Business Journals (for identifying the major industries and companies in Boston as well as other metropolitan areas).
  • Ask for assistance at the Stamps Reading Room Main Desk (3rd Floor Baker Library | Bloomberg Center).

Borrowing

• Partners may check out items from Baker Library under the HBS student’s name.
• Partners may check out items on hold for the HBS student that will be listed on the student’s library record.
• Partners may check out items that will be listed on their personal library record if they have requested Harvard Library Access and Borrowing (see below).

 Harvard Library Access and Borrowing

• Partners are eligible for services from libraries across Harvard, in addition to Baker Library. To enable this benefit, request a Harvard Library Access Card.  
  • There are exceptions.  Consult library of interest before visiting.
• Access and Borrowing will be added to your HBS Partner photo Harvard ID.
• Partners may borrow items from libraries across Harvard. Items borrowed will be listed on your personal library record.

HBS faculty may sponsor an individual to perform work on their behalf as a Library Proxy.  

• Borrowing physical materials on behalf of faculty requires faculty sponsorship. 
• Using electronic resources restricted to HBS employees and students requires researchers to have an HBS email address and faculty sponsorship for these types of researchers:
  • Contractors, Consultants, Less Than Half Time, and Temporary hires  
  • Collaborators not at HBS 
  • Students not enrolled at HBS 

Exceptions may apply. Please consult library staff ahead of time for assistance. 

Faculty who apply for proxy sponsorship first provide details about the intended proxy, including legal name, then provide details about themselves, and agree to take responsibility for the proxy using the library and materials. 

Faculty Apply for Proxy Sponsorship

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives is open to all members of the Harvard University community and to visiting researchers.  

For more information, please see Special Collections and Archives - Visit Us.

Copyright Restrictions: All users of Baker Library resources must respect the copyrights of works that are accessible through computers connected to the Harvard network. No copyrighted work may be copied, published, disseminated, displayed, performed or played without permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with fair use or licensed agreement. This includes music, movies and other copyrighted material. Harvard may terminate the network access of users who are found to have repeatedly infringed the copyright of others. Students with questions about copyright or this policy are invited to raise those questions with a Reference Librarian. Staff supervisors and members of the Faculty are welcome to call the University's Office of General Counsel.

Licensing restrictions: Electronic resources listed on the Baker Library site are restricted by license agreement to members of the Harvard or Harvard Business School communities, and, in some cases, to on-site users of Baker Library for the purposes of research, teaching, and private study.

Under Harvard's licenses for electronic resources, users generally may not:

• permit anyone other than authorized users to use the licensed materials
• systematically download documents from a database.
• modify or create a derivative work of the licensed materials without the permission of the licensor
• remove, obscure or modify any copyright or other notices included in the licensed materials
• use the licensed materials for commercial purposes, including but not limited to the sale of the licensed materials.

Users are individually responsible for compliance with these terms. Vendors sell Harvard Business School access to their databases at rates that reflect a deep discount compared to what a commercial enterprise would pay. Information providers sell us this content on our contractual guarantee that we will use the data strictly for academic or research purposes. 

MBA students may use Baker's licensed databases for their own analysis in support of their academic work (including FGI, independent projects and summer internships*), but must follow these guidelines:

• In your written communication with colleagues, you may excerpt only insignificant portions of reports, articles, and other documents for distribution to company employees or anyone else (i.e., do not email data, entire documents, or reports to others at the company).
• Never allow others direct access to Baker Library resources (i.e., do not share your password with anyone).
• Always attribute accurately and completely all data and excerpts you include in your reports. For recommended guidelines, see Citation Management: Guides & Tools.
• WRDS does not allow usage with outside organizations, and cuts off MBA access to the database in the summer.

* Some vendors specifically exclude internships in their click-through agreements. Where there is a click-through, please read carefully and refrain from using a resource if your use would violate the terms.

See Also:  Special Collections Copyright and Citations

Baker Library, as part of Harvard Library, loans materials or makes photocopies of materials for institutions worldwide.

For more information and contacts, please see Harvard Library Interlibrary Loan policies for lending outside Harvard.

Please note: the following items are not loaned outside of Harvard:

• HBS Cases: Baker Library is prohibited from copying cases. Please use the Harvard Business Review Store - Case Studies site to order cases. In most instances, the cost to purchase a case is less than the cost of an average Interlibrary Loan transaction.
• Bound volumes or entire single issues of serials/periodicals.
• Items from our Special Collections (Archives, Baker Old Class, and other historical collections).
• Anything listed as "Non-Circulating" or "In-Library Use."

Institutions are encouraged to check HOLLIS, Harvard's online catalog, to determine if the item is eligible based on its type/location.

Baker Library's research professionals are committed to the highest standard of excellence. Our professionals work with our community of users to identify, analyze, and present information and data to support the generation of knowledge and ideas.

• ACCOUNTABLE:  Associate your identity with every product you create; you are responsible for the timeliness and accuracy of what you produce.
• ACCURATE:  Use accurate and reliable sources and techniques when accessing and analyzing data; check for the introduction of errors when you are manipulating data.
• APPROPRIATE:  Engage in dialog with the research requestor in order to ensure that the product you create will serve to further his/her expressed aims.
• ARCHIVED AND RECOVERABLE:  Archive all data sets, documentation, programs, exhibits, etc. in a safe and conveniently accessed manner.
• CONFIDENTIAL:  Assume confidentiality on all projects unless expressly told otherwise by the research requestor; this does not preclude requesting help from other internal research providers on sources or methodologies that will further the research requestor’s aims.   
• ETHICALLY COLLECTED:  Obtain permission for use of all licensed and primary source data; any restrictions on use must be observed; HU guidelines must be observed with respect to human subjects, as outlined in “Statement of Policies and Procedures Governing the use of Human Subjects in Research at Harvard University.”
• METHODOLOGICALLY SOUND AND VALID:  Present your analysis clearly and completely cited, with sufficient discussion to support your inferences and conclusions.
• REPRODUCIBLE AND VERIFIABLE:  Cite, label, document and preserve every research product you create, in order to assure the integrity of the research process, and to allow verification by other researchers.
• SOURCED AND DOCUMENTED:  Keep careful records of all sources, transformations, mathematical operations, and analyses; provide these records to the research requestor when the product is delivered.
• TIMELY:  Deliver all products within a reasonable time and on a predictable schedule based on a common understanding with the research requestor; set realistic expectations, and inform the research requestor of any unanticipated delays as soon as possible.
• TRANSPARENT:  Ensure that all products will be clear and understandable to any reader, and particularly, to the research requestor; clearly define and label all data items, sources, units of measure, periodicities, and time frames so they are clear and unambiguous; provide clear explanations of all transformations of original data.