Occidental College
Library
Research
Research Help | Research Guides | Research Sessions
We offer research support for students and faculty in the form of face-to-face and online research assistance, consultation with librarians and subject specialists, online research guides, and instructional courses on use of library resources and educational technologies.
Personalized Research Help
Knowledgeable Peer Assistance
Need help finding a book? Having trouble with a new database interface? Can't find a particular citation?
Peer Research Assistants are trained to help you find articles, use databases and navigate print and online resources.
Find Peer Research Assistants by email at reference@oxy.edu, by phone at (323) 259-2818 (during hours at the Info Center), by text at (323) 218-0503, at the Info Center in the Academic Commons or in the Center for Digital Learning and Research (CDLR). Remember you can chat with us during our regular hours by adding reference@oxy.edu to your chat list in OxyConnect.
Peer Research Assistant Hours for Fall and Spring Academic Sessions
| Daytime Sun-Fri | 11am-5pm | @ Info Center, 2nd Fl. Academic Commons |
| Evening Sun-Thurs | 6pm-9pm | in CDLR, Ground Fl. Academic Commons |
In addition to regular desk hours, some of the more senior Peer Research Assistants are available for drop-in hours. These drop-in hours are meant to help and guide you through any in-depth research projects or papers you have. You can make an appointment via Appointment Quest or email them directly by using the information below.
| Name | Major | Drop-In Hours | ||
 | Lily Berrin, Senior | Cognitive Science & Spanish | lilyberrin@gmail.com | Tues. 3-5pm, or by appointment |
 | TJ Kelly, Senior | Biology | tkelly@oxy.edu | Fri. 1-3pm, or by appointment |
 | Danielle McCown, Senior | Group Language (Spanish & Linguistics) | mccown@oxy.edu | Sun. 1-3 pm, or by appointment |
 | Meagan McGinty, Senior | Politics | mcginty@oxy.edu | |
 | Marah Bragdon, Senior | Religious Studies & Pyschology | bragdon@oxy.edu | Wed. 6-8pm, or by appointment |
 | Sam Pastor, Junior | Diplomacy & World Affairs | pastor@oxy.edu | Thurs. 6-8pm, or by appointment |
 | Tommy Smith, Sophomore | Undeclared/Education | smitht@oxy.edu | |
 | Aneesah Ettress, Freshman | Undeclared | ettress@oxy.edu |
In Depth Consultation
Starting a new project? Need help navigating the numerous resources available to you? Hunkering down to do research for your final paper?
Work with librarians and disciplinary experts on your research from conceptualization to finish.
They can help you...
- articulate your research question or topic
- effectively search library databases to conduct thorough literature reviews
- find and access primary sources and statistical data
- understand issues of authority and meaning in the sources you choose to support your argument
View open consultation slots and create appointments online via Appointment Quest, or contact them directly though the information below. Remember you can use their emails to chat via Google Chat in OxyConnect.
 | Ryan Brubacher, MLS, Consultant for the Arts and Humanities
| visual arts, music, theater and dance, humanities
| by appointment Friday 9:30-11:30 |
 | Carey Sargent, PhD, Head of Instruction and Research Support
| sociology, behavioral and social data, social sciences | Room 222 drop-in hours Tuesday 2:00-4:00 by appoitment Thursday 2:00-4:00 |
 | Marsha Schnirring, MLIS, Associate Vice-President for Scholarship Technology | Zotero, literature, sciences | |
| Kate Dundon, MLS, Consultant for the Humanities | English, history, critical theory, humanities
| drop-in hours: Friday 9:00-11:00 or by appointment: Mondays & Wednesdays 10:00-11:00 |
Research Help | Research Guides | Research Sessions
Online Research Guides
General Reference Research Guide
The general research guide introduces you to navigating the many resources at Oxy, and provides information to help you through the entire research process. Gain insight into exploring topics and resources in a variety of disciplines. Learn about basic and advanced searching techniques, evaluating and understanding sources, as well as academic ethics and citation management.
Subject Specific Research Guides
Librarians and disciplinary experts have created a series of subject specific research guides that lead you to the sources you need. Use the guides to find subject-specific databases, new books in the subject, and subject specific reference resources. Depending on the discipline, you can also access multi-media, primary sources, on-line data sets, current events, images, scores, and sound recordings. View list of subjects.
Research Help | Research Guides | Research Sessions
Research Instruction Sessions
Consultants are available to facilitate group sessions covering a wide variety of topics related to research, teaching, and learning with technology. Class topics may include identifying and exploring research resources, search strategies and tools, advanced discipline-specific research resources, methodologies and practices, and assistive or instructional technologies. To schedule instruction, please contact Carey Sargent, Head of Instruction & Research Support, at sargent@oxy.edu.
In-Class Workshops
Consultants also offer workshops at faculty request during their regular class meeting time to help students at any stage of the research process, from evaluating information sources, to managing citations with Zotero, to using databases and writing literature reviews for seminar papers, to finding and selecting primary sources and on-line datasets, to data visualization for research presentations.
Special Workshops
Need help outside the normal class period? Consultants can build workshops tailored to your needs. In addition, students can organize themselves and schedule workshops outside of class.
CSP Workshops
We work closely with CSP faculty to design sessions related to research during students' first year. Contact sargent@oxy.edu to request one of the sessions below or to arrange a session that meets your needs.
Identifying Sources and Evidence
This session reviews the distinction between primary and secondary sources, using a hypothetical assignment based on your CSP syllabus. Students then generate concept maps of keywords related to their hypothetical research topic. Students then practice searching for information in an array of library owned and open online resources in order to then discuss the evidentiary value of the resources they find.
Understanding and Managing Citations
We introduce students to Zotero, a browser-based tool for collecting, managing, and citing sources. Through teaching this tool, we explain the various components of citations, their purpose, and when to use them.
Finding a Book on the Shelf
We introduce students to the library catalog and help them make sense of results for physical items. We then offer students a guided tour of Oxy’s library stacks, asking them to find print sources relevant to their CSP work.
Multimodal Communication
We offer academic and technical support for courses using alternative and interactive media for research assignments. This support includes workshops on content, tools, information management, and issues of copyright and fair use. While the specific technologies may vary, we have in the past offered support for ArtStor, Wordpress, iMovie, podcasting, Google Sites, and Wikipedia.
Research Help | Research Guides | Research Sessions