#1 Know What I Need 

Your trail of resources includes . . .

Services & Contacts

Service Desk / Reference & Information Services, Offering Appointments with Librarians for One-on-one Consultation

Let us serve as a starting point. Librarians will help you articulate your problem and determine your next steps.

"Making the Grade" (9-min. video)

Watch this video and discover how a reference appointment may help you with your library research.

CASA: Center for Academic Support & Advancement

Get help with your basic research, learning, and study skills.

IPFW Writing Center

Seek guidance and advice as you begin your writing assignments. Start early, visit often!

Distance Learning Orientation CD

Follow the path to Tips for Success > Helmke Library to learn what you need to get started as a distance learner. The librarians have created this Macromedia Flash presentation to help "take the mystery out of distance learning" and orient you to the wealth of library resources at your fingertips.

Guides & Tools

Doing Library Research

This guide takes you through the whole research process, including a section on defining your research topic or problem.

Course Guides

Our course guides will give you some good leads for gaining an overview on your research and writing assignments.

Environments & Behaviors

Subject Pathfinders

See if one of these subjects catches your attention. Browsing through the pathfinder for reference books in your subject is one way to discover what's known, and what's out there to discover.

Foraging for Information Worksheet (PDF)

Use this form to formulate and record ideas you'd like to pursue. As an information forager, your task is to scan your environment for ideas and resources.

IIFE Insights

Let's continue on with #2 Select the Best Resources