Research Help
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Research Engagement and Scholarship Librarians are here to help you with your research in person, via phone, and online.
Virtual help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
We provide professional research support to EIU students, staff and faculty as they navigate the complex resources in the EIU's Booth Library.
Working on a research paper or a thesis?
Do you have questions about resources and strategies to help you find all the relevant
research?
Do you feel confident that your review of the scholarly literature is as thorough
as it could be?
Are you happy with the format and accuracy of the works you cite?
Learn how reference librarians can help.
What do Research Engagement and Scholarship Librarians do?
- Provide assistance with research techniques and strategies
- Create guides to library resources by broad subject area or focused topics
- Develop tutorials to demonstrate search techniques and teach about library services
- Teach classes about information and the ways it is discovered, retrieved, and utilized, skills often referred to as "information literacy"
- Answer questions in person, by email, phone, and chat
- Provide research consultations by appointment
- Collaborate with faculty to design effective assignments
- Give presentations to students get the most out of our collections
Booth Library has a large collection of reference resources in print and online
Reference books, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, almanacs and statistical compendia are those materials that are consulted as sources of information or as guides to other resources. These works are great places to begin your research.
Our reference collection contains books on all subjects. Many are in print, and hundreds of reference E-books and online reference resources are available.
The library subscribes to 300+ online databases providing you with high quality and scholarly information in all subjects.
There are several computers available in the Reference room for use in accessing the library databases and any resources linked from the library web pages including the EIU Library Catalog to find books, E-books, CDs, DVDs, government documents, musical scores, and more.
If you are off campus, all library resources are available from any computer with
an internet connection.
Additional resources
Ask a Librarian
Library databases
Research Help
Subject Librarians
Research Engagement and Scholarship Librarians:
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David Bell Librarian he/him Research Engagement and Scholarship dsbell@eiu.edu | 217-581-7547 | 3505 Booth Library | Selected Works Make an Appointment |
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Steve Brantley Head of Research Engagement and Scholarship he/him Research Engagement and Scholarship jsbrantley@eiu.edu | 217-581-7542 | 3501 Booth Library | Selected Works Make an Appointment |
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Kirstin Duffin Librarian she/her Research Engagement and Scholarship kduffin@eiu.edu | 217-581-7550 | 3513 Booth Library | Selected Works Make an Appointment |
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Michele McDaniel Coordinator of Ballenger Teachers Center and Librarian Ballenger Teachers Center - Research Engagement and Scholarship mkmcdaniel@eiu.edu | 217-581-6099 | 3517 Booth Library | Selected Works Make an Appointment |
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Amy Odwarka First-Year Experience/Student Success Librarian she/hers Research Engagement and Scholarship aodwarka@eiu.edu | 217 581-6006 | 4411 Booth Library | Selected Works |
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Heather Wohltman Library Operations Associate she/her Research Engagement and Scholarship hdwohltman@eiu.edu | 217-581-6072 | 3000 Booth Library |