Research and Information Help / Reference Desk: Home

Call: 541-917-4645

Email: libref@linnbenton.edu
Text: (650) 667-6620

The Writing Center's goal is to help students become more confident, effective, and expressive writers – and to make the writing process more joyful. They offer coaching for all students for any writing project, in any class, and at any stage in the writing process.

Learn more at the Writing Center's website.

Our librarians are research experts who will help you find and use information on any topic. We aim to be your guides in this process and our goal is to empower you to do research for yourself, whether it is for a class project or personal interest.

For quick answers, we offer drop-in assistance at the library's Reference Desk and via phone, email, chat, or text. We also offer 25 and 50 minute research consultation appointments to dig in to a topic of your choice (online or in-person).

Reference Desk Hours:

• Monday: 9am-1pm
• Saturdays: 11am-3pm

Research Consultation Appointments are available:

• Monday-Thursday: 9am - 12pm

Finally, you can reach a librarian 24 hours a day, 7 days a week using our chat service. Please note that after our open hours you will most likely be helped by a librarian from another library.

Research appointments are a great way to get one-on-one help from a librarian. We encourage you to make an appointment at any point in your research process. We are all trained to help with any topic, but you can go to Meet the librarians page to learn if there is someone who focuses on your subject area.
Research appointments are available in person or over Google Meet. They must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.

To make a research appointment with a librarian, call the Reference Desk at 541-917-4645 or do the following steps:

1. Open Watermark (formerly called Aviso). Log in using your Single Sign-On ID and password
2. Click on the Meetings tab and choose Library as the location.
3. Under Know who you want to meet with, select:
   • ​Library (virtual) to schedule an online meeting with any available librarian.
   • OR Library (in-person: Albany) to schedule a meeting at the LBCC Library in Albany.
   • OR a specific librarian.
4. In the What's on your mind box, describe your assignment.
5. Select an appointment length, then choose a date and time. Click Save.

You will receive a Google calendar invitation and an email from a librarian with important information about your appointment. Make sure to check your LBCC student email! 
Please bring your assignment to the appointment, along with any other helpful documents.

There are many ways that we can help you be successful with your class projects. Here are some examples.

When you are beginning a project, librarians can help you:

• Generate, refine, and explore topics
• Discuss the types of resources available to you
• Plan a strategy for your research process​

While you are working on your assignment, librarians will help you:

• Find quality sources through the library's subscriptions or free online to incorporate into your assignments, such as:
  • Scholarly articles and news or magazine articles
  • Images, videos, and music
  • Statistics, reports, and professional literature
• Access resources from other libraries
• Evaluate information and sources for credibility​
• Create and find open access content and understand copyright

Once you have found the sources you will use, librarians can help you:

• Be a scholar by properly paraphrasing or quoting sources, creating citations, and Bibliographies and Works Cited in APA, MLA, or other citation styles.