Engagement & Research Services

The Engagement & Research Services Department oversees the reference desk, provides general reference assistance as well as research support, and offers information literacy and academic engagement sessions.

Online resources include a web based library catalog and over 200 indexes and databases, many with full text sources.

An Information desk is located on the main level, and user workstations are located on each floor library where professional librarians provide personalized service to assist with learning and research needs.

If you questions or concerns, please visit the Reference Desk or contact us at 254-968-9249 or [email protected].

Library Instruction

Request a Library Instruction Session

Working in collaboration with faculty, our instruction services support the development of information literacy practices. Our goal is to assist students in understanding how to access, use, and create information. Instruction sessions are available for on campus, hybrid, and online courses.

Depend on the needs of the course, these sessions can include:

Physical or virtual tours of library services and resources,
Developing search strategies to find relevant and reliable information from library databases,
Evaluating information sources,
Avoiding plagiarism,
And More.

See our Library Instruction Sessions outline for ideas on other potential topics.

Guidelines and Contact Information

Please request sessions early to ensure library staff availability. A week or more in advance is ideal.

As the course instructor, you decide the length, type, and location of the session.

Sessions can be lecture and/or hands-on format and held in various locations:

Stephenville: Library Training Center, campus computer lab, or classroom.
Other locations: computer lab or classroom.

Requirements for library sessions in campus computer labs and classrooms:

Instructors must make arrangements to use a campus computer lab. Campus computer lab contact information.
Classrooms must have Internet connectivity. On the reservation form, please indicate if the room has a projector.

Ask a Librarian: email questions as you search available resources
Online Catalog: search for materials owned by the Tarleton Libraries
Discovery@Tarleton: Search the library catalog and many of our online databases in one search.
Interlibrary Loan: request materials not available in the libraries’ collection
Subject Research Guides: quick start links for your research
Library Instruction: faculty may schedule curriculum based library orientation sessions