Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you? You need to write a research paper and you just can’t think of a topic. Or, you have a topic but don’t know how to start finding information in books or articles. Perhaps you have seen the list of databases available through the library website but don’t know which have the best information on your chosen subject. Not to worry – you have help at the UNH Marvin K. Peterson Library. The reference librarians at the library are here to assist you with those issues and more.

We can show you how to use the UNH Library catalog to find books and documents on your topic.  Once you have found the titles that you need, we can show you how to use the call number on the spine of the books to find them in the library so that you can borrow them. If you need a book that the library doesn’t own, you can request that we get it for you through interlibrary loan. This means that we locate the book you need from another library. We contact you when it arrives here at the UNH library and you simply stop by the library circulation desk to borrow it.

If you already have articles that you need to find, we can show you how to locate them using the Journals link on the UNH Library webpage. Articles are available in many different places and the journals link can tell you if we have the journal you need here in the library, in a database, or on microform. Again, if we don’t have access to it here, you can ask us to get your article using interlibrary loan.

Academic research requires students to use library databases rather than Google to get articles.  The reference librarians are experts at both searching these databases and teaching students how to search them. We have access to over 100 different databases containing articles on many different academic areas including Business, Criminal Justice, Engineering, Forensic Science, Psychology, and much more. If you want to try one out, Academic OneFile is often a very useful database to start with. It contains over 34 million articles! You can log in from any computer anywhere: even at home! You can access Academic OneFile by selecting “Library” at the top of the UNH homepage. Then choose “Databases” from the left hand menu on the library homepage.  Finally, select “Subject Listing of Databases” to link to Academic OneFile as well as many other databases.

Please ask us if you have questions! That is why we are here. Students will frequently come up to the reference desk and say “I am sorry to bother you but…” You are not bothering us! We are more bothered by the fact that there are students who need assistance but aren’t asking us for help. You can come into the library and get help on the spot. We are at the desk located under the “Information” sign as you enter the library and look slightly ahead and to the left.  If you prefer, feel free to make an appointment for a specific day and time to get a more indepth library orientation or research assistance session.
You can also call us at 932-7189 or email us at [email protected] with your request.

We look forward to hearing from you!