Reference Services

The Barnard Library Reference Department assists members of the
Barnard and Columbia community with their library research
and teaches them how to use our print and electronic resources.

Contact us

• Telephone: 212-854-3953
• E-mail: refdesk@barnard.edu
• IM a Barnard librarian: BarnardReference (AOL, Google, and Yahoo) and librarians' individual Instant Messenger addresses below.
• Chat reference:  Available Mon-Fri, 1-5pm. Hours may vary when classes are not in session.

  Click on:

  Note: this is a service provided by Columbia University Libraries

• Come to the Reference Desk: 2nd floor, Barnard Library (Lehman Hall, Broadway)
   

Reference Librarians

IM us at BarnardReference (AOL, Google, and Yahoo)
or any of the individual addresses indicated below:

ekroski@barnard.edu

212-854-9096

AIM and Yahoo: ellyssakroski
Google: ekroski

Facebook
Twitter
Friendfeed
LinkedIn
LibraryThing
Slideshare
Delicious
Blog: iLibrarian

You may wish to identify a Columbia University Subject Specialist for more in-depth assistance on a specialized topic.

Other reference desks that may be helpful:

• Avery 212-854-8403
• Butler 212-854-2241
• Teacher's College 212-678-3494

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Hours These are the hours when the Reference Desk on the library's second floor is staffed by a librarian. Different Barnard Library departments each have different hours, as do different Columbia Libraries. There are also different hours in the summer: M-F, 9-5.

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Library Research Instruction  Barnard faculty are invited to schedule a library research instruction session for their class. This hands-on, multimedia presentation is normally taught in the library and covers reference materials, database selection, CLIO searching, and provides an overview of Barnard and Columbia libraries' other resources. We can create an online research guide for every class taught and will tailor the content to meet your students' needs. Contact Karen Dobrusky for more information or to schedule a session.

Assessment

• We carried out a project to assess the information literacy and critical thinking skills of first year students and the library instruction we give them.
• Fall 2009: We are currently assessing our instruction by asking the students for direct feedback at the end of the session; we ask them to write on an index card the answer to the question "What was the most valuable thing you learned during this session?"

Reference Blog This blog is primarily for internal use, but if you've ever wanted to know what librarians discuss when they're alone, here's your chance to find out. This is also your chance to find out what we read: check out our reviews and recommendations wiki.

Research Guides Tailored to support the needs of individual classes, these guides provide recommendations of specific resources including reference books, databases (for finding articles, statistics, and other information), and websites. We create a research guide every time we give a library research instruction session.

Subject Guides These guides are on broad topics, like Art, Literature, or Women's Studies. They provide an introduction to research in a discipline, listing the major reference works, databases and websites. You may also wish to look at Columbia University Libraries Subject Guides.

Updated 10/30/09 
Jenna Freedman, Coordinator of Reference Services