SUNY Empire Library News & Alerts

First Time Using Our Online Library? Here's Help!

Because SUNY Empire students are located around the world, our library is entirely online. This means all of the resources in it are available for you to access 24/7/365. This includes over 128 databases containing millions of ebooks (textbooks, too!), articles, and streaming videos. And our OneSearch feature on the library home page allows you to search most (but not all) of these simultaneously. This has obvious upsides but OneSearch can also sometimes return an overwhelming number of results.


Luckily, there are ways to make searching more manageable. Here are a few:

• Narrow search results: Learning how to identify good keywords, combine them effectively using Boolean operators, and use database filters will give you more precise, relevant search results.
• Use subject guides: If OneSearch isn't giving you relevant search results, you may be better served by using one or more of our subject-specific databases. These are grouped together by broad subject areas (e.g. education, nursing, business) to help you find the best tools to help in your research all in one place.
• Search for textbooks via our Course Reserves guide: The quickest way to find textbooks we have available for free in our library is to use the Course Reserves guide, searchable by course information or textbook title. Options for finding freely available textbooks elsewhere are also described here. Other assigned readings can usually be found via OneSearch.

There are plenty of other library self-help services available on the library home page:

• Use our library chatbot, Howie: Howie is not AI; he was developed by me (a human librarian!) to help you find answers to our most commonly-asked research questions. Howie can also connect you with a librarian via live chat.
• Search our FAQ: Have a library question? The answer is probably in our searchable FAQ.
• View quick tutorials: Just want a quick tour of the library, help with understanding how to evaluate sources, or another research skill? Check out our short-and-to-the-point video and text tutorials at the Self-Help link.
• Visit our Research Skills Tutorial: This is a comprehensive, multi-part tutorial on all stages of the research process, everything from developing your topic to citing your sources. Use it as a guide while you work your way through a research assignment.
• Visit our Citing & Citation Tools guide: Here you'll find APA, MLA and other style guides with formatting rules, examples, and sample papers as well as tools to help you keep track of all of your citations, notes and papers and guide for annotated bibliographies.

Prefer to work with a librarian? We've got you (and your preferred contact method) covered!

• Start a live chat: Whenever a SUNY Empire librarian is logged in, you can ask us your questions via live chat. When we are not available, you can either interact with our library chatbot, Howie, or have Howie connect you with an academic librarian from the AskUs 24/7 cooperative, even if it's the middle of the night.
• Call us: 800-847-3000 ext. 2222
• Text us: 518-623-6321 (Monday-Thursday 12pm-7pm only. This is an SMS service, so we cannot receive phone calls or multimedia at this number. Standard messaging rates apply.)
• Email us: librarian@sunyempire.edu
• Schedule a library consultation: Most library questions can be answered quickly via chat, phone, email, text, or Howie. If your library question is more complex, or you didn't get the answer you needed through one of our other contact methods, you can schedule a 30-minute library consultation with one of us via Microsoft Teams.
• Attend a library workshop: These workshops cover a variety of topics and are taught by a librarian live and online, so you can attend from your home or office. There are also links to non-live versions for each in case the available days and times don't work for you.