Introduction
This guide is designed to provide a starting point for library staff presented with reference questions at the desk, especially when a librarian is unavailable. It will give some basic information to guide students who may need research help. For more in-depth questions, please always feel free to direct the students to the librarians (via chat, email, or appointment).
Video Tutorials
Research path
Reminders
- To find resources for a class assignment, check Research Guides by subject.
- To find a full text of an article from a citation: Search JOURNAL TITLE FINDER to see if the Library has full-text access, then select link for database with dates of coverage you need, or find the print copy on the shelves.
Tips for helping students
When guiding a student through a reference interview, here are some helpful tips for the interaction:
They're the student!
Our students are smart, and that can be intimidating: especially when they're coming to you with a question about a topic you know nothing about. Your job is to guide them to the right resources to help them answer their question, and you know more than they do about our resources! You don't have to be an expert on Bacon's Rebellion to point them in the direction of America's Historical Newspapers. You can help them find the answer to their question, even if you don't know anything about their topic.
Use Wikipedia!
Although students should never cite Wikipedia as a source, it's a great crib sheet for librarians to get a rough understanding of a topic when a student is at the desk. Wikipedia will give you names, dates, and events associated with a topic that you can then use to guide your database searches, and might be a good lead for primary sources as well.
It's okay to ask questions!
It's easy to think that if a student asks a question, you need an answer right away--but often a reference interview is more like a conversation. Start by asking students to tell you more about their resesarch: what they've done so far, what they're interested in about their topic, what they're having difficulty with. As they give you more information, you will have a more complete picture of what the student needs.
Meet with a Librarian
To make an appointment, select the librarian you wish to work with or the day and time most convenient to your schedule.
Explore more!
The best way to familiarize yourself with our databases is to use them yourself! If you have the time and interest, try doing some research yourself in our databases and catalog. This will help you to get comfortable using the interfaces and in turn, you will be able to guide students through their research. Here are some sample topics to get you started--or, use the databases to learn more about a topic that interests you!
US HISTORY
- Women's Suffrage (19th Amendment ratified in 1920)
- Labor organization (NY Shirtwaist strike 1909, Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire 1910, Bread and Roses strike 1912)
- Chinese Exclusion Act (passed 1882, extended by the Geary Act in 1892)
- Freedmen's Bureau (1865-1872, led to the establishment of many HBCUs)
- AIDS epidemic (1981-1990s)
- Camp David Accords (1978)
WORLD HISTORY
- Henry VIII (King of England, 1509-1547)
- Maximilien Robespierre (Leader of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, 1789-1794)
- Catherine the Great/Catherine II (Empress of Russia, 1762-1796)
- Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward (China's cultural revolution, 1958-1962)
- Fall of the USSR (approx. 1988-1991)
- Otto von Bismarck and German Unification (1871-1890)