Email librefWelcome to the Reference Department of the Herman B Wells Library
Have a question? Ask us. The Reference Department is ready to help.
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100 years of service |
2008 marks the 100th year of Reference Service in the IU Libraries! William Evans Jenkins appointed the first Reference Librarian, Mary Dunham, in 1908. Before 1939, Reference and Circulation were merged and the work included Reading Room supervision and circulation duties, but librarians also answered questions, compiled bibliographies and guides, offered library and research instruction, prepared exhibits and displays, and maintained a central reference collection. |
| Reference Services
Wells Library Hours Questions, requests and suggestions are always welcome and can be sent to: libref@indiana.edu |
Reference BlogThe Reference Department is located on the first floor of the East Tower of the Wells Library.
Reference Desk
Librarians, professional and support staff are available at the Reference Desk Monday through Thursday from 8am to 10pm; Friday to 5pm; Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sundays from 1pm to 5pm. Graduate Assistants (graduate students in the School of Library and Information Science) also assist at the Desk and help extend coverage to all hours the Research Collections is open.
The Staff at the Reference Desk offers help with any question, using the full range of print materials and electronic databases, catalogs, indexes, full text journals, e-books and online encyclopedias, directories and data.
Reference Area
The Reference Area includes 45 public workstations with access to library resources. The Reference Staff can advise in the selection of the most appropriate databases for any given topic and instruct in their use.
Reference Reading Room
The Reading Room, a place for quiet research and study, contains approximately 25,000 printed volumes of indexes, abstracts, encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, atlases and other reference works.
