Welcome to the Chamberlain Library! Our online library offers a comprehensive collection of current and relevant sources for Chamberlain students and faculty. Our collection includes but is not limited to electronic journals (eJournals), electronic books (eBooks), videos, newspapers, and more! Since our library is entirely online, our website replaces the traditional brick-and-mortar library. Instead of walking down an aisle amongst the shelves packed with books, you’ll browse our collection by visiting our research guides. Research guides consist of webpages, hosting curated collections and helpful tutorials for programs, academic subjects, and library skills and services. While our research guides feature the most relevant sources, you can access our entire collection via the Search Everything box on the library homepage.
But that's not all! Although you can't see us, librarians are here to help guide you through your research journey, offering tips along the way—like the ones in this blog post! Whether this is your first time at the library or you visit here often, here are five tips for getting the most out of your library.
Tip 1: Find your program guide
We have four types of research guides on the library website; program guides are one of them. Each degree path has a program guide featuring quick links to databases, electronic books (eBooks), electronic journals (eJournals), and websites. To access the guide for your program, select the Library Guide module in the left-hand navigation menu of your course. We recommend starting your research from this guide because it offers step-by-step instructions for searching the library. After you review the instructions, select the Go to the Library Homepage button at the top of the first page to start your search in the Search Everything box. You can also select the Chamberlain Library Logo in the upper-left corner to return to the homepage wherever you are on the website.
Tip 2: Bookmark the How to Do Library Research guide
Our How to Do Library Research guide is a one-stop shop for everything library. It provides how-to tutorials for researchers of all levels, including step-by-step instructions with screenshots, FAQs, videos, and interactive tutorials. Like all guides on the library website, you can use the left-hand navigation menu under On this Guide to navigate the guide. The dark-colored boxes represent the pages, and the light-colored boxes represent the sections of the pages. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you will learn with each page:
- Navigating the Library: Are you looking for a specific database like CINAHL or trying to find your program guide? If so, this page will help you find those with ease.
- Choosing Where to Search: Learn the ins and outs of the research process, particularly what to expect and where to start.
- Starting Your Search: Master the art of the library search with these step-by-step instructions.
- Using a Specific Database: Take a virtual tour of our most popular databases.
- Evaluating Your Sources: Learn how to evaluate information, determining if a source is scholarly, peer-reviewed, credible, or authoritative.
- Citing Your Sources: Learn how to identify the elements of a citation.
While this guide is helpful for the entire Chamberlain community, faculty members may also visit the Library Services for Faculty and Colleagues guide for orientation materials.
Tip 3: Attend an orientation
Learn the skills necessary to become a successful researcher by attending one of the many orientations we host each session. You can register for an upcoming orientation from the quick links on the library homepage or the full event calendar. All library services and events are scheduled in the Central time zone. While you are there, please register for any of our other workshops to strengthen your research skills. Our workshops cover various topics, including finding scholarly sources, identifying quantitative and qualitative research, using library databases, finding health statistics, and studying for the NCLEX.
Don’t have time to attend? No problem! You can register for a recording, and we will email it so you can watch it on your time. We highly recommend you attend if you have time because this would be a great time to ask questions and meet your friendly librarians!
Tip 4: Get help from the librarians
In addition to our workshops, you can connect with us via chat, email, text, or one-on-one appointments. Select the Librarian Chat button at the top of the website to quickly connect with a librarian during our service hours. Select the Get Research Help button next to it to explore other help options.
Tip 5: Stay tuned for the latest Chamberlain Library news
Library News is Chamberlain Library's official blog featured on the library homepage. Here, we will post the latest library news and announcements, including how-to posts, collection highlights, tips of the week, and expert librarian overviews. This post is part of our Tips of the Week blog post series. After digging into our Librarian Chat transcripts, we noticed a pattern—many of you have similar questions each week. So, we’re here to get ahead of the game by providing quick answers and handy links to the most helpful resources on our library website. Stay tuned for our Week 2 tips—we’ve got more insights coming your way!
Now that you are an expert researcher, we hope you make the most of all the resources available through the Chamberlain Library. Have a great session!