First Generation College Students: We're Here to Help!

Your Benedictine Librarians are available to help you make the transition from high school to an academic environment - even a virtual one!  This guide is also useful for all first year students at any age. As a freshman, there will be new challenges, new opportunities, and new skills for you to learn and master.  Please don't hesitate to ask us for help.

• Feel lost or overwhelmed by your assignments?  Don't know where to start?  No worries - we are here to help you!
• Make the Library your learning and discovery partner -- class assignments, discovery, research papers, studying and group work, and more
• Get help by topic, class, or library service with our Research Guides.
• Use BenSearch to help you discover books, articles, and other resources
• Formulate a topic for your paper
• Objectively evaluate the sources you've found and make sure they are right for your topic
• Integrate these sources into your plan for a paper or assignment
• Use correct citation methods to build your bibliography
• Become a confident library user by learning, looking, questioning, and seeking help
• Make the library your place for study, meeting, group work, collaboration, and haven of learning and discovery.

• Find and borrow books, DVDs, and technology
• Borrow materials from other libraries, This is called Interlibrary Loan
• Ask a librarian and get help with a research project
• Browse Course Guides, Research Guides, or Topic Guides to help you find resources to help you with assignments and projects.
• Access electronic journals, databases, e-books, and scholarly websites
• Meet with your colleagues and work on projects
• Use the computers to work on a paper or project
• Copy and print

We encourage you to ask for reference assistance when you need help finding information sources to support a paper, project, or presentation, or about any topic that interests you!