Librarians can get you started during any stage of the research process, whether it's exploring your topic, finding and evaluating sources, formatting citations, and more.
Need help with something else?
Schedule a research help appointment with a librarian in-person or online with video chat and screen sharing. Please schedule at least 24 hours in advance so the librarian can plan ahead.
Interested in primary sources or materials from the Gerth Archives & Special Collections? You can also schedule an appointment time to view collections and/or to speak with an archivist about your research needs.
For research inquiries requiring more than ten minutes of one-on-one assistance, students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to schedule a research appointment with a librarian. It is recommended but not required to schedule the appointment with the corresponding subject liaison librarian. Appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance of the requested appointment time.
Appointments can be cancelled up until the start time of the appointment. Users are requested to cancel their appointment either through the system-generated confirmation email or directly with the librarian before the start time of the appointment. Librarians will hold the appointment time for 15 minutes before cancelling the remainder of the appointment as a no-show.
You can schedule a research consultation through our online form.
Since our librarians are not always on campus, providing Zoom consults makes allows us to offer more more availability and make this service accessible for all students. Working together over Zoom also facilitates working together on research with features like screen sharing and link sharing. However, if you would prefer to meet in person this is an option, just reach out to us via email to schedule. You can either reach out to the librarian you want to meet with directly (you can find the librarian for your major here), or email our reference coordinator to schedule at mclarke@csudh.edu.
Meeting with us gives you the chance to work one-on-one with a librarian to meet your unique research goals. This can be anything from getting started formulating a topic to advanced research on a capstone project. We are happy to work with you at any point in your research process.
We require that all consultations be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance to allow the librarian time to prepare.
All of our librarians are experienced researchers who work with students from all disciplines and courses!
However, if you're working on advanced research in your discipline, for example a capstone project or graduate level research, we do have subject librarians who can provide more advanced research support.
We offer consultations for 30 minutes. If you anticipate that you will need extra time to work with a librarian, please reach out to mclarke@csudh.edu to discuss accommodations.
On-campus consultations are held in librarian offices on the main floor of the library. When you arrive simply check-in at the Research Help Desk next to the open computers on the main floor of the library. The librarian will meet you there and show you to their office.
The better prepared you and the librarian are for your consultation, the more you will get out of it! Before meeting the librarian may ask for more details about your assignment or topic to help them prepare to meet. On the day of the consultation please bring your assignment as well as any work you've already done, class notes, or anything else you think might help the librarian better understand your research goals.
A research consultation is a chance to work with a librarian on your specific project so what we cover depends on your assignment and goals! Some common skills we may work on are developing a research topic; finding articles, books, and other resources in the library's collection to support your research; finding data, statistics, or other information on your topic; evaluating sources to see if they are appropriate for your project; and citation. If you're not sure if a meeting with a librarian is right for you feel free to reach out over email (ask@csudh.libanswers.com) or chat to find out more.
In order to ensure that as many students as possible have the opportunity to work with a librarian, we typically ask that students schedule appointments no more than once per month.
Working with a librarian to define and support information literacy goals for your courses has significant benefits for your students' development of core information literacy competencies. While we do not offer assigned, one-on-one research consultations as a service, CSUDH Library’s Information Literacy Program provides several options for ways to work with a librarian to integrate information literacy concepts into your course curriculum including synchronous librarian instruction, assignment design, asynchronous module design.
The Research Help Desk is located on the main floor of the library near the open computers (see map). This is where you can get in-person help with finding library materials, getting started researching a topic, formatting citations, and more. The Research Help Desk is staffed by Student Assistants and an on-call librarian.
A CSUDH librarian can assist you via chat Monday through Friday 9am to 6pm. Or you can chat with one of our librarian partners 24/7!
The library provides research assistance to students, faculty, and staff through a variety of in person and online methods. Services include working with patrons to identify information needs, find and evaluate sources, create search strategies, manage research, give proper credit to sources, and conduct other research related activities. Our staff do not conduct research for users, but rather they facilitate the development of patrons’ information literacy skills by teaching them how to conduct research themselves. In addition, library staff do not assist with proofreading or writing mechanics nor interpret statistical, legal, or medical information.
Questions submitted by email or text message after 6 p.m. will be answered the following business day.
Users may lose chat privileges and be blocked from the system if they fail to adhere to the University Library’s Code of Conduct.