Distance Services for Faculty: Online Resources

Subject librarians are members of the FSU Libraries faculty who are your most important resource for assistance relating to your discipline. Subject librarians understand the information needs of their specific areas of study and additionally, represent their department in appropriate forums within the library. The subject librarian is fully knowledgeable about library products and services so as to represent these effectively to others in their subject area.

For subject-specific reference consultations, contact the subject librarian in your field.

For research assistance that is less specialized but more immediate, we recommend the Ask A Librarian function. There are two ways to immediately connect with a FSU librarian; the first is via Ask A Librarian live chat. Using the form below or clicking here, enter your question and you will have immediately started a dialogue with a FSU librarian.

The second option is to use our Text a Librarian service. Text message your query to (850)-937-7067.

In order to schedule a one-on-one research consultation with a subject librarian, you may use the form embedded below, or click here. Please note that if you would like to schedule an electronic research consultation, on the form you must select the Remote Consultation option in order to schedule a phone, email, or video chat consultation. Additionally, please allow at least 48 hours notice to schedule your consultation session. If you need assistance within a smaller window of time, please use our previously mentioned Ask A Librarian service.

FSU Libraries is as dedicated to helping faculty with personal research projects as it is to assisting students in their academic endeavors. The services we provide are not just for students; your research is just as important to us. There are several research options provided by FSU Libraries that are accessible from a distance to assist you in your studies, including a large number of databases that index academic papers and journals; a good place to start your selection is via one of these suggestions:

• Browse our list of suggested databases. This list consists of our most-browsed databases selected by FSU Librarians.
• Search or browse our A-Z list of all databases. You can manually search this list, or browse alphabetically for a database that looks like it might meet your needs.
• Search suggested databases and more by subject. Click on one of the suggested tags to find the resource you are looking for.

If you're on the hunt for eBooks, one of the following options is an excellent place to start looking:

• Academic Complete (ebrary). Contains over 740,000 eBooks spanning several leading publishers and a litany of academic topics. Ebrary's collection is available on mobile platforms as well as traditional computers to make on-the-go searching easy and accessible.
• E-Book Library (EBL). Operated by ProQuest, EBL is a web-based eBook lending program whose catalog is constantly expanding. Like ebrary, EBL is available on mobile devices as well to accommodate scholarly needs away from the computer.

We know that managing your bibliographic resources can become tedious; for this reason, FSU Libraries offers access to several citation management tools. As an alternative, there are also open-source, free citation management tools for you to browse as well. The following is just a small sampling of the different citation management resources out there:

• EndNote. Available to access through FSU Libraries, EndNote consists of both a purchasable software program and a web-based component. The latter, called EndNote Web, is available through FSU Libraries.
• Zotero. A free, open-source citation management and research tool that is available for you to download to your personal computer. Zotero combines features of older reference management software with new developments to create a fully synthesized and functional reference environment. For more information on Zotero, click here.
• Mendeley. Another free citation management tool, Mendeley emphasizes the collaborative aspect of their platform. Reference storage and management is a high point of Mendeley's features, as well as the option to share your work via the program's social networking features.
• RefWorks. While RefWorks is more commonly used by students, this citation management tool is also available to faculty and staff through FSU Libraries. This ProQuest product is a web-based citation manager that assists you in managing and organizing sources used for projects. To create an account, visit this page; to login to an existing account, click here. For video tutorials showing how to effectively use RefWorks, click here.