The Howe Library’s building and online resources can help you with all the stages of your research and thesis writing processes. The Dana Medical Library serves as the primary resource for HCOL students in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Laurie Kutner (laurie.kutner@uvm.edu) serves as the Honors College UVM Libraries liaison, and is happy to be regarded as the “first stop” for research help for all honors college courses and the honors thesis. Additionally, each discipline on campus has its own library subject specialist who can help students in that subject area.

Beginning a new research project can be daunting in many ways, but the Library is here to help you. We can help you to choose a research topic, refine your topic, develop search strategies for searching databases, locate sources relating to that topic, and find full-text resources. Are you confused about what a peer-reviewed source is, how to find a book in the collection, how to get a book not owned by the library, how to decipher a citation from a bibliography, or how to manage your citations? Contact the Honors College Librarian, Laurie Kutner, (laurie.kutner@uvm.edu), for help. 

If you’re the independent type and want to begin research on your own first, use the Subject-Based Research Guides in a variety of disciplines, which are created and maintained by Howe librarians in Information & Instruction Services. Each guide presents the most important print and online sources (e.g., reference books, article databases, journals, image databases, statistical databases, streaming video sources, etc.) in a specific subject.

Laurie Kutner, the Honors College Librarian, is available to help Honors students and faculty with library use or research questions. If you’re struggling with choosing a topic, refining your topic, developing effective search strategies, finding scholarly resources, finding primary sources, finding credible websites, etc., Laurie is available to help you.  Contacting her by e-mail is best  (laurie.kutner@uvm.edu).  You can arrange for individual research consultation appointments that are scheduled in advance and are generally scheduled for 60 minutes, but tailored to the complexities of your research questions. Laurie is available to meet either remotely on Teams or in-person at Howe Library. Please indicate 3 potential dates and times you are available to meet, as well as whether you would prefer to meet remotely on Teams or in-person in Howe Library (or no preference), in your e-mail.  Laurie will get back to you with meeting details.

If you’re working on a specialized research topic in your discipline, consider contacting the library specialist for your subject area. A librarian has been assigned to each academic department on campus, so regardless of your major or project, there’s a librarian who can help you with your research. Feel free to contact the subject librarian in your discipline. Find a list of the subject librarians here: Subject Specialists.

The library can only purchase a fraction of the books and articles available in the world, but just because we don’t own an item doesn’t mean you don’t have access to it. As a University of Vermont student, the Interlibrary Loan Department (ILL) will borrow books, on your behalf, from other libraries. It typically takes 5-14 business days for a book to arrive. Scanned articles and book chapters are sent to you electronically as pdf documents. Scanned documents typically arrive within 1-5 days, though many documents arrive in a day or two. This is a free service! Click this Interlibrary Loan link to: learn more about the ILL service, register for the service (via ILLiad), and place an ILL request.

You can locate the item yourself in the library. However, the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Dept. provides a document delivery service for UVM-owned materials. UVM students may request scans of articles and book chapters from materials available in Howe Library's regular print and microform collections. ILL staff will scan articles or book chapters and deliver them as a PDF to users' ILLiad accounts. Copyright law applies. This is a free service! Click this Document Delivery link to: learn more about the service, register for the service (via ILLiad), and place a request.

The Jack and Shirley Silver Special Collections Library is home to books, extensive archives, and other special primary source documents and images. The areas of emphasis include Vermont; the University of Vermont; the history of the book, with noteworthy concentrations in areas such as modern fine printing and artists' books, early illustrated editions of Ovid, Canadian history, New Englandiana, and Americana. The Silver Special Collections is located in Billings Library. Visit the Silver Special Collections website to learn more about its collections, services, and hours. The Silver Special Collections Library also manages the Center for Digital Initiatives (CDI) which makes unique research collections available online, with an emphasis on Vermont- and UVM-related topics.

Reference librarians cannot proofread citations in various styles, but we can certainly help you with citation questions, and we provide online guides for several citation styles.  We also offer training in citation management tools (Zotero, EndNote, and Mendeley), and have librarians available for support with each of these tools. To learn more about these tools and who to contact for instruction and help, visit the library website.

The 3rd floor of the Howe Library is designated as silent space, as well as the “Quiet Study” room on the 2nd floor. You can find group and individual seating and computers throughout the Howe Library.

The library is also home to several group study rooms which can be reserved in advance, online from the library’s homepage, Group Study Rooms, or on the spot at the Circulation/Reserve Desk. Please note that a room can only be reserved on the spot if one is available, so consider reserving in advance when possible.

Media Services is the place for you. Multimedia Resources & Services is located on the main/1st floor of the Howe Library and consists of three areas.

1.) Media Collections includes DVDs, CDs, computer software, LPs, videos, laserdiscs, and audiocassettes. Use the library catalog to find out what the library owns. Check out and return materials at the Media Services Desk.

2.) Media Equipment provides AV equipment (digital cameras, MP3 players, light kits, etc.) to the UVM campus community as well as provide technical assistance and instruction on the use of media equipment.

3.) Multimedia Lab is comprised of iMac computers, multimedia software applications, importing hardware, and a 3D printer. Support staff is available to assist with project creation and to help troubleshoot technical issues.

Visit the librarians at the Howe Library Reference Desk for in-person help and instruction in finding materials, doing research, and using the library.  Reference librarians are available to answer your questions both in-person and through our Ask a Librarian services that include options for chat, e-mail, text message, or phone.  Please do not hesitate to contact us; we are here to help you.