WR 121 Erwert - education: Contact a librarian

Your assignment requires you to confer with a librarian.  We hope that this will be a very fun and productive part of your assignment!

When should you schedule the conference? Some steps in the process of your assignment:

• Refining your topic:  a librarian can help you brainstorm the scope of your topic for a college essay, and suggest strategies for beginning your research.
• Finding sources: a librarian can suggest search strategies for researching your topic on the web, and let you know about some excellent sources for college assignments available through the library website that won't be found on the open web.
• Finding specific statistics or facts:  if you are searching for specific data to help make your case and you are striking out, perhaps a librarian can help.  A rule of thumb:  if you can't find what you are looking for after 10 minutes, it's time to contact the library. 
• Evaluating sources:  a librarian can provide insights on the credibility of sources, which you are required to write about in your annotated bibliography.
• Presentation formats:  librarians have experience with a wide range of technologies for presenting information.
• Citations:  librarians answer LOTS of questions about citing different types of information in different citation styles.

While you are required to have one conference with a librarian for this assignment, feel free to contact librarians as often as you like!

Which librarian or library service should you use?

PCC students can

• schedule a research help appointment with a PCC librarian, online or on campus
• chat with a PCC librarian during library hours
• chat with an after hours librarian 24/7 (PCC chat rolls over to this service after hours.  You may be chatting with a librarian from Great Britain and Australia!)
• email a librarian
• visit a librarian on campus at the Research Help desk

For this assignment, an appointment would work best so you have enough time to discuss your question in depth. Some options:

• PCC librarian research help appointments (includes online and on-campus options, evenings and weekends)

• Online appointments with Roberta (Monday morning, Thursday evening)

• In-person appointments with Roberta (Wednesdays at the Southeast Campus)

How should I prepare for the consultation?

No preparation is necessary, but the session will be most productive if you come with specific questions.  When you schedule an appointment, you will be asked what you would like to work on.  Giving a librarian advanced notice about your questions will help her or him to be prepared for the session.