Quick Reference   Tags: government_information, reference, searching  

Can't find what you're looking for? Need help? Feel free to Ask Us!

Face-to-face help is always available at the Circulation Desk. Help is also available at the Reference Desk Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm.

Call us on the phone at 219.464.6890

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Welcome to the Christopher Center's Quick Reference Guide! In this guide, you can find links to general resources on a variety of topics, and places you can go to for help.

Searches in The Library Catalog will display what resources Valpo owns in those areas. To check for items in other libraries that will loan the resource, perform those same searches in WorldCat, a catalog of library holdings worldwide and use our Interlibrary Loan program to borrow those materials.

Create keyword searches & subject searches to search in catalogs and databases. A good strategy is to do a keyword search first, using words that you think might be in the title or content notes. When you find a resource that looks worthwhile, see what subject headings are used to categorize that item and use them to do subject searches.

In the Christopher Center, all resources are shelved according to the same call number system.
  Current Print Periodicals (Journals): First floor
  Reference Books: Second floor
  Books to check out: Call numbers A - L: Third floor
  Books to check out: Call numbers M - Z: Fourth floor

The Christopher Center Library provides a variety of Research Guides geared a specific subjects, and, in some cases, specific classes. For more Research Guides, check out these sites:

Welcome to Research Guides

Citation Guide

How to Search

Research Path

The Christopher Center is usually open seven days a week, with exceptions for holidays. For a detailed look at the library's hours, check out the Library Services Hours page.