Palomar College students have questions and they need answers. The Palomar College library webpage is where all the librarians are hiding and they have all the answers you need.

The Ask-a-Librarian chat is a great place to go for students who are lost and need the tools to help them on that research paper. There are a total of nine full-time and four part-time librarians available to help Monday through Friday, and soon Sunday coming in November.

Palomar College Library department co-chair, April Cunningham, answers as many as three student chats each hour. Typically, Cunningham spends up to 10 minutes with a student.

One feature that is offered is the Zoom screen share that can help solve answers efficiently.

“As soon as a student types in the chat box, they get an alert and we see it’s a Palomar College student, we type back right away,” she said. “There are resources in a dozen databases to find ebooks on the topic you want, citation tools for citations.”

Students can also check out the book they need within a week in advance with the new curbside pickup.

“We have not promoted it yet, but we are tuning out the curbside service where students can pick up books,” Cunningham said. “It takes about a week to request your book and then come and get the book.”

In November, the library website will offer an online form that students can submit to request a book, rather than sending an email to a librarian. The library staff is making it easier for students to find the resources and books they need with minimal effort.

With finals around the corner, students need tools and resources for their research papers, so when they visit the library website, they can easily locate the chat box to the right of the home page.

With the vast number of databases and periodicals offered online, the Ask-a-Librarian feature can help students narrow down their searches, spending less time researching and more time completing their papers.

“Librarians are librarians because we want to help students with their research, that’s how we become librarians, we think of ourselves as a bridge between the students questions and what is offered in the library,” Cunningham said. “…they can do all the wonderful things, term papers, research papers, history reports.”

For more information about how to connect with a librarian, visit the Palomar College Library website at Palomar Library Homepage – Palomar College Library.