Reference consultations

Our staff works with individuals and small groups to locate books, manuscripts, articles, or artifacts for your research topic. The service is available to UMN faculty, staff, and students. Visitors, scholars, and members of the public are also welcome.  

All consultations will be provided online while library buildings are closed. 

Curators have in-depth collection knowledge and a working knowledge of external disciplines and communities that use them. They provide personalized support to:

• refine your research question,
• construct effective search strategies,
• identify library resources to answer your question,
• refer you to other specialists, guides, or resources, 
• and allow you to proceed with future research, building on a subset of resources.

Prepare for your meeting

Our collection is available for use by researchers at any level of interest and scholarship. 

• Reference consultations typically take between 30 and 60 minutes.
• Be prepared to discuss your research topic and provide any preliminary research you have conducted.
• Review our prepare for your visit page for policies, and building access information. 

Related staff

Emily Beck

Assistant Curator, Wangensteen Historical Library

Lois Hendrickson

Curator, Wangensteen Historical Library