Faculty Librarians can help you to:

• Understand the full range of support available from the Library
• Identify databases and other search engines relevant to your discipline to enable you to locate and use wider reading for your assignments
• Construct detailed search strategies for an in-depth interrogation of the literature, such as a literature review or systematic review
• Solve problems with your existing search strategy by commenting on a draft of your search and suggesting amendments
• Use reference management software and other tools to store and manage your references
• Consolidate your knowledge of your department's preferred referencing style and the general principles of effective referencing

We're not best placed to help you to:

• Select or evaluate specific books, articles or other sources for you, as these skills are part of how you are assessed
• Determine the appropriate research methodology to use for your project. Your module leader or supervisor can advise you on this
• Carry out literature searches on your behalf. This is an important skill for you to develop as part of your studies and you'll often need to be able to discuss your approach as part of an assignment
• Review your complete list of references for accuracy. We can help you with especially problematic examples but you'll need to check and proofread your references yourself
• Improve your academic writing skills more generally. Support for this is available through the Writing Centre

If you're not sure if we can help, please ask. We can refer you to other support teams in the University if needed.

To get the most benefit from your appointment time, we strongly encourage you in advance to:

• Consider specific questions you would like to ask and prepare an agenda for what you would like to achieve in the appointment
• Refer back to slides and other materials from relevant lectures in your modules to make sure that you understand the main principles. You will likely have seen your Faculty Librarians for taught classes in your programme, for example to support you with how to search for resources for an assignment
• Prepare any documentation of your search and what you've already tried. This could include, for example, your research question, a list of databases you're planning to use and the search strategies and techniques you have attempted. It's helpful to share this with us in advance, especially for a very detailed search strategy

If you can no longer attend your appointment, please cancel your booking in good time so that we can make the slot available for others.

The appointment is yours to use as you need. We'll prompt you and ask targeted questions about your topic, but you'll need to drive the discussion and tell us about what you want to achieve. You can expect your Faculty Librarians to:

• Listen closely to your questions and provide clear, non-judgmental answers
• Suggest links to other sources of help which you can use after the appointment to consolidate your learning, including key contacts in your department
• Keep the content of your appointment confidential, except where you give us permission to share with specific individuals or where we identify a safeguarding risk to you or others

For online appointments it might be possible to record the appointment at your request and share this with you afterwards.

We recommend that you put into practice the discussion from your appointment as soon as possible, which will help you to apply what you have learned effectively. You're welcome to contact us via email or book a further appointment to ask more questions. We don't set a formal limit on the number of appointments you can have, but we would ultimately encourage you to work independently based on the advice you have received.