Commonwealth Honors College: Getting Started With Library Research

You can get help from the Libraries in a variety of ways!

If you're not sure if you should ask the question, please ask it! We can do a lot of different things in the Libraries and we can help connect you to other areas of campus for help!

No question is too big or too small! We live for questions!

Type of Help	Good For	Limitations	How To
Email a librarian with subject or area expertise	Direct contact with an expert in the area you are researching When you have specific, specialized, and/or complex questions about a research topic	Librarians may not be immediately available	Find Your Librarian
Email or chat with Get Help! staff	Available Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm Questions that you think may be quick about anything related to your research, library services or library collections When you don't know who at the Libraries you should contact for help	Library staff available at the time may not have the specific expertise to answer your question; they will direct your question to staff with expertise	Use the embedded form below to send your question Email ask@umass.libanswers.com Use the box on the left to start a chat Visit the Get Help! page
Request a research consultation	When you would like to spend time with library staff to learn how to do something research-related When you have a more specialized or complex question where a conversation would be helpful	It takes time to schedule consultations Library staff may not be immediately available to schedule, especially for last-minute requests	Fill out the Research Consultation Request Form
Library FAQs	Finding the answer to commonly asked questions, such as: How to return materials to the Libraries How to find and renew your library loans How to access ebooks from 5C libraries And more!	There may not be an FAQ for your question	Visit the Get Help! page and use the box at the top to search the FAQs or scroll down the page to browse popular, recent, research help or technical help FAQs or search FAQs by topic.
Self-guided tutorials	When you'd like to improve your research skills or learn about specific information literacy skills, like: The basics of the research process Search strategies Evaluating information Recognizing bias in research How to cite information in a specific format such as APA or MLA And more!	You may still need to use one of the above methods if you have questions after the tutorials	Select the tutorial that interests you from the Information Literacy Modules guide