SUNY Empire Library News & Alerts

Are You a Confident Library User?

You may have recently received a brief email survey asking how confident you feel using the online library. The first batch of responses have come in, and they have given the librarians some great feedback to help us make the library more user friendly. Many of you indicated you would benefit from viewing tutorial overviews, talking with a librarian, and getting help specifically with creating effective searches. There are a variety of ways to do all of these!

Tutorials and FAQsThe Learn section of the library home page offers numerous tutorials and answers to FAQs--from very brief video overviews at the Self-Help link to in-depth, start-to-finish research help in the Research Skills Tutorial. The FAQ link has searchable quick answers to our most commonly-asked questions.

Talk with a Librarian
You can chat, email, call, or meet with us via Microsoft Teams about any library questions you have. You will find our chat widget, phone number, email address, and a link to schedule a library consultation in the right column of the library home page. Chat is available 24/7!

Also, in the Learn section of the Online Library you can sign up to take a live, online library workshop where a librarian will help you identify research topics, search for sources, and cite with APA, among other things.

Get Help with Searching
Reach out to us via any of the methods above for directed guidance on searching, check out the chapter of the Research Skills Tutorial on "Searching for Information Sources," sign up for the library workshop on "Searching for Sources," or review the FAQs on searching.

Bonus tip: A few of you mentioned in your survey responses that you wish your search settings weren't lost each time you change your keywords combinations. There's a feature in OneSearch to help with this! After you've changed a search setting under Limit Options (e.g., publication dates, scholarly/peer-reviewed, etc), run your search and then look back at those settings. Just above them, click the link that says "Remember all filters." This will retain the limit options you selected through multiple keyword search combinations.

If you haven't responded to the survey yet, take a minute to let us know what would help you feel more confident using our library.