The library Information Desk is staffed with knowledgeable library staff members ready to answer your questions. Stop by, call, or email any time during our open hours and we’ll be happy to assist.

If you need in depth assistance, we recommend speaking with our Information Literacy Specialist. One-on-one sessions are available through in-person drop-in sessions or online via MS Teams where we’ll help you find the information and resources you’re looking for. We provide research skills training & one-on-one instruction on searching for electronic resources, e-books and print resources (books, audio/visual materials etc.).

Drop-in Reference Assistance:

• Mondays 11 AM – 1 PM
• Fridays 9 AM – 12 PM

Virtual appointments available upon request. Book one HERE

Are you new to academic research? Or perhaps you need a review to brush up on your skills? The following online tutorials provide step-by-step ‘walk-through’ the procedures for research, regardless of the subject area in which you are engaged.

Research Tutorial 01: Using Reference Resources

• Did you just get back an essay that you wrote using only encyclopedia articles? Did you get a poor grade? Find out why! Learn the do’s and don’ts of how to use reference resources.

Research Tutorial 02: Concept Mapping

• You’ve just been given an assignment. Now, where do you start? A useful brain-storming tool, concept mapping can kick-start your research, help you improve the quality of your searches and help you save time.

Research Tutorial 03: Discovery Search

• What’s that big search box (Search Library Collections) at the top of the library home page? That seems like the quickest and easiest way to see if the library has what you need to do your research. That search box looks at everything available to you via the library (print and electronic). Find out in this tutorial how you can best use that search box (aka the “Discovery Search”).

Research Tutorial 04: Using the Library Catalogue

• Are you looking for physical (print) items to use in your research? The search box (aka Search Library Collections) at the top of the home page brings back a lot of information, but you just want to (or have been asked to) focus on print. Use it to find physical materials; this tutorial will help you do that.

Research Tutorial 05: Subject Headings

• What can Subject Headings do for you? Subject Headings are an essential part of library catalogue records. Learn how to use them to refine your searches and find materials that might otherwise be missed.

Research Tutorial 06: Finding Items on the Shelf

• How can you find books on the Shelf? What do call numbers mean? You’ve used the catalogue to find a range of titles that you’d like to pull from the shelves. To do this, you need to understand the basic filing system that the Library uses. This module is a primer on the Library of Congress Classification System.

Research Tutorial 07: Using Library eBooks

• eBooks in the Library are accessed differently than print books. Learn about how to find, access, and effectively use ebooks from the Library’s online collections. (This tutorial is specific to the library’s EBSCOhost Academic eBook Collection)

Research Tutorial 08: Searching Electronic Databases

• Your instructor has asked you to find a number of articles to use for your upcoming paper. This tutorial will help you find those articles using specific online databases from the Library’s collection of online resources.

Research Tutorial 09: Finding Journal Articles in Print

• Have you tried looking for full-text articles, but are having trouble finding the full-text? We may still have those items in print. Find out here how to determine whether or not we do, and/or how you might be able to obtain them in print.

Research Tutorial 10: Evaluating Information Sources

• Before you begin to write you need to be able to justify the choices that you made during your research. This is a crucial step in the research process. Can you defend/justify the evidence that you intend to present in support of your argument?