Library Instruction: Quick Tips

Quick Tips for Library Research

Know what your assignment is, and bring the assignment sheet with you.
Be willing to ask questions. Be willing to ask more questions, or different questions.
Reference librarians can answer many of your questions; (and if you start early, we can help you more).
It may take longer than you hope, to finish what you need to do.
What kind(s) of information you need-- a single fact, a simple analysis, an in-depth discussion, or more?
Use appropriate materials, including books, journals, magazines and Internet sources. Journals and magazines from databases to which we subscribe are normally the equal of the same publication in print.
Known authors with credentials will normally provide better information than unknown or unnamed authors.
Not every source that you will need to use is available electronically, but many good sources are.
The main library has four levels, with the materials organized by call numbers. Call numbers are used to locate books and journals. They take practice, but the principle is the same as the Dewey numbers in the public library. There are several branch or departmental libraries on campus, too.
Cite your sources as you work .
A greater quantity of "authoritative" material is available through the Web than there used to be, but most of the best materials are still in libraries, either ours or others.