Research & Instruction is all about answering your questions. Ask about information, library resources, web evaluation, citations, publications, policies... Ask via chat, email, phone, one-on-one appointments, small group and course-based instruction sessions!
RESEARCH AND INFORMATION DESK
The Research and Information Desk is a public service desk staffed with professional librarians. Librarians at this desk can provide help with the following:
In addition to providing reference service at the desk, reference librarians:
Library System
Our CSCU Library System is a shared system of the four state universities, the 12 community colleges, and Charter Oak State College. Through SouthernSearch, our catalog, you can:
Reference Collection
The reference collection is shelved on the first floor of Buley Library. In addition to print reference books, the library also subscribes to collections of e-books from Credo, Ebsco, Elsevier, Gale, EBSCO, Oxford University Press, and Sage. These collections can be searched via SouthernSearch.
Electronic Databases
Buley Library subscribes to over 200 databases covering various disciplines.
Databases index, abstract, and contain many full-text journal articles. The most popular databases are listed on the panel to the left on the library home page. Click on “See all databases” to access databases by subject, in alphabetical order, by type, and by vendor.
All the databases can be accessed remotely with your SCSU login.
Ask a Librarian
Research & Information Desk Phone
(203) 392-5732
Library Hours
(203) 392-5750
Librarian Chat
Text
(203) 490-0756
Email
library@southernct.libanswers.com
Library Home Page
libguides.southernct.edu/home
Learning how to use the library effectively and efficiently is one of the most important things a student can do to ensure a successful college experience. Far too often, students believe Wikipedia and Google are all they need to write a research paper. As faculty know, Wikipedia and Google are useful tools, but they are unlikely to be sufficient for writing an academic research paper! The sooner students learn about what the library has to offer, the sooner they will be delivering research papers and other assignments that productively utilize Buley Library’s many excellent resources.
SKILLS AND OUTCOMES
Ideally, library research and information literacy skills should be integrated into the course, continually reinforced and built upon at the appropriate level for the student. It may help to think of your students as being somewhere on a continuum of learning that has identifiable outcomes at each level.
INQ 101 Students should learn:
• Where the library is
• The difference between the Research & Information Desk, the Check Out Desk, and the IT Help Desk
• How to log in for off-campus access/course reserves/requests
• The difference between the open internet and the library’s scholarly online article databases
• That there is a subject librarian for every major, and how to contact those librarians
• How to use SouthernSearch to find a variety of library resources and start to differentiate between them
• How to cite the resources they find
[All of this is covered in the INQ 101 FYRE Library Assignment and session.]
Higher Level Students should learn:
• How to create and use a search strategy, including keywords, synonyms, Boolean operators, and truncation symbols
• How to evaluate information sources
• How to locate an article if they already have the citation
• How to request a book from interlibrary loan
• What a literature review is and how to write one
• How to properly cite all materials
• Familiarity with the style guide for their major
• Familiarity with the databases for their major
• Familiarity with the information cycle, different kinds of publications, and how scholarly knowledge is created and shared
HOW THE LIBRARY CAN HELP YOU INTEGRATE LIBRARY SKILLS INTO YOUR COURSES
Tours and Demonstrations for Faculty
Librarians are available to provide tours of library resources to new faculty. We are also happy to meet with any faculty to discuss and demonstrate how the library works, new services, new databases, and changes to database design or function.
Creating Research Assignments
We can also assist at the stage when you are creating research assignments for your students. We occasionally see assignments at the Research & Information Desk that require students to use resources to which Buley Library does not have immediate access. If you are not certain that Buley’s resources are adequate for a particular assignment, check with a librarian. We can tell you whether the project is feasible at Buley, suggest ways to adjust the assignment so that it can be completed with our resources, or offer alternative resources for the assignment.
Tours for Students
Tours of the library building provide students with a sense of the library as a physical space. Students will learn where different library needs are met (Research & Information vs. Check Out Desk), where different resources are located (DVDs vs. reference books), which floors are the best for studying, and much more. We also have a Virtual Tour.
Course Specific Instruction
Whether in a library classroom, the usual course classroom, or online, students learn about how to narrow or broaden a research question, how to select the most useful database for a topic, the best search strategies, revising a search query, accessing full-text materials, and saving search results. Students can also try various searches on their own and have the opportunity to ask questions about their research topics while both the librarian and the instructor are in available.
Research & Information Desk Assistance
Librarians are almost always available at the Research & Information Desk and/or via Librarian Chat to help students learn to use SouthernSearch and library databases, starting with selecting a database and progressing to the best search strategies and how to evaluate the results.
Individualized Assistance
If you feel only a few of your students need library instruction, rather than the entire class, feel free to refer them directly to the subject librarian for assistance with a particular database or assignment.
SETTING UP AN INSTRUCTION SESSION
You may request an instruction session by going to http://libguides.southernct.edu/formclass or by contacting one of the subject librarians
A Universe of Scholarship
Exploration of the scholarly universe is part of a university education. Online students can enjoy that same exploration thanks to the online resources in the modern academic library.
The Library Distance Learning Coordinator
Not only does the Library provide online materials, but also online expertise. Rebecca Hedreen is our Library Distance Learning Coordinator. She has a Master of Library and Information Services degree and a Master of Education degree with a specialization in Adult Education and Distance Learning.
Rebecca can provide hands on assistance at the Library, in your office, or over the Internet. You can even add her to your online courses, providing both you and your students with “in class” advice on library research and online education.
Rebecca Hedreen
Library Distance Learning Coordinator
http://libguides.southernct.edu/distance
(203) 392-5753
hedreenr1@southernct.edu
