Reference Services

The Barnard Library Reference Department assists members of the
Barnard and Columbia community with their library research
and teaches them how to use our print and electronic resources.

Contact us

• Telephone: 212-854-3953
• E-mail: refdesk@barnard.edu
• IM a Barnard librarian: BarnardReference (AOL, Google, and Yahoo) and librarians' individual Instant Messenger addresses below.
• Chat reference:  Available Mon-Fri, 1-5pm. Hours may vary when classes are not in session.

  Click on:

  Note: this is a service provided by Columbia University Libraries

• Come to the Reference Desk: 2nd floor, Barnard Library (Lehman Hall, Broadway)
   

Reference Librarians
IM BarnardReference (AOL, Google, and Yahoo) or any of the individual addresses indicated below:

You may wish to identify a Columbia University Subject Specialist for more in-depth assistance on a specialized topic.

Other reference desks that may be helpful:

• Avery 212-854-8403
• Butler 212-854-2241
• Teacher's College 212-678-3494

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Hours These are the hours when the Reference Desk on the library's second floor is staffed by a librarian. Different Barnard Library departments each have different hours, as do different Columbia Libraries. There are also different hours in the summer: M-F, 9-5.

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Library Research Instruction  Barnard faculty are invited to schedule a library research instruction session for their class. This multimedia presentation is normally taught in the library and covers reference materials, database selection, CLIO searching, and provides an overview of Barnard and Columbia libraries' other resources. We can create an online research guide for every class taught and will tailor the content to meet your students' needs. Contact Karen Dobrusky for more information or to schedule a session. We have a wiki devoted to the teaching of critical thinking about library and web resources. 

YouTube and Flash Videos Here are some short instructional presentations from various college libraries:

Common Knowledge (Youtube: 1:24) - a video illustrating the point that common knowledge is  that which can be found in four or five encyclopedias; if something is not common knowledge, Cite Your Sources! Databases! (Youtube: 6:32) - Richard Sly, the Library Guy, helps a student. Help Me, Ninja Librarian! (Youtube: 2:58) - a student panics as a deadline appraoches. Information Literacy: Identify Your Sources (Youtube: 9:54) - a scholar explains the difference between scholarly and popular materials, with many examples. Plagiarism, eh? How to recognize it and get it out of your life (Shockwave Flash: 9:36) - a Canadian librarian explains exactly what counts as plagiarism. Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals (Youtube: 3:10) - an animated video explaining the differences between scholarly journals, popular periodicals, and trade publications. Using Wikipedia Wisely (Shockwave Flash: 3:58 - long download time) - how you can use Wikipedia in your research.

Assessment

We are engaged in a project to assess the information literacy and critical thinking skills of first year students and the library instruction we give them.

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Reference Blog This blog is primarily for internal use, but if you've ever wanted to know what librarians discuss when they're alone, here's your chance to find out. This is also your chance to find out what we read: check out our reviews and recommendations wiki.

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Research Consultations This service, which is intended for library users who need in-depth, advanced help with their research, can provide:

instruction in creating effective research strategies; help with identifying the best resources, in print or online; uninterrupted time with a reference librarian.

Faculty and other researchers may also find it useful to request:

an in-depth introduction to a particular library resource; an overview of new resources in a particular subject area.

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Research Guides Tailored to support the needs of individual classes, these guides provide recommendations of specific resources including reference books, databases (for finding articles, statistics, and other information), and websites. We create a research guide every time we give a library research instruction session.

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Subject Guides These guides are on broad topics, like Art, Literature, or Women's Studies. They provide an introduction to research in a discipline, listing the major reference works, databases and websites. You may also wish to look at Columbia University Libraries Subject Guides.

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Updated 09/08/2008 
Jenna Freedman, Coordinator of Reference Services