Looking for Info on a Subject?
Doing some research and looking for a good place to find online, full-text information from authoritative reference books? Try the Gale Virtual Reference Library from the “Databases” list on our Lamson Library Home Page. Look below for more information about this.
Chat With Us
Please note: Our “Chat” option is on summer vacation. Please e-mail us using the form below.
E-Mail Us
Use the form below to send a question to the Lamson Library Reference Desk. Your question will be answered by a professional Reference Librarian as soon as possible — usually within a day. Please note that if you are having technical or computer problems, you should contact the Information Desk at the Lamson Learning Commons.
Call Us
The Reference Desk phone number is: 603-535-2455.
Come See Us
The Reference Desk is the place to bring all your research questions: how to get started doing research, the answers to specific questions, recommendations for the best print or electronic information sources. This desk is staffed by professional Reference Librarians, nearly all of whom are PSU faculty members. We’re familiar with many of your assignments and are here to help you. Don’t hesitate to ask a question no matter how trivial you think it might be. You are not interrupting our business, you are our business.
The Reference Desk is surrounded by the Reference Collection. These books might be the best place to begin any research assignment. In addition to our online reference books and databases, these print sources and a librarian will get you off on the right track and will save you lots of time surfing the web or starting with the 300-page version of your topic in the circulating collection. Many reference sources are written by subject experts and will provide a concise overview of a topic and lists of other sources for more in-depth information. The Reference Librarians have been working with this collection for years. Don’t underestimate what we can find for you.
Try Gale Virtual Reference Library database
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) provides 24/7 electronic access to the full text of a selected group of print reference sources. Lamson librarians have selected a number of key authoritative and useful reference sources for this electronic collection. We have print copies of most of these. Sources cover 15 broad subject areas. Most are multi-volume sets. At present the collection selected by Lamson Library includes 80 titles and 299 volumes. With the search capabilities of GVRL, users may search this entire collection, just a group of titles within one or more of these subject areas, or an individual title. Users have many options in searching, including by keyword, document title, author, or in the full text. Full text is delivered in HTML, with the option of seeing the full page image in PDF format as well. There is also the option to mark or e-mail documents for later use.
To connect to GVRL, click on the “Databases” link at the left of the Library Home Page, or connect directly from here to Gale Virtual Reference Library. If you are off the campus network, you must first login to the myPlymouth portal.
Hours
The current service hours can always be found online.
