Graduate Students: Everything you need to know about the Library... but were afraid to ask!

Welcome to Iowa State University and the Library. Although this is a Sci/Tech school, we do have many strong graduate programs and collections in the Social Sciences and Humanities. Each of you also has your own subject librarian, to whom you can turn for ideas and assistance in your research and teaching.   

Aside from our collections, we also have many services to make your research easier and more efficient. Besides our subject librarians, we also offer on-the-spot reference services face-to-face, by phone, and online. Check out our Ask Us! page on our website. Our research guides offer starting points for disciplinary research as well as other topics such as digital humanities, theses and dissertations, data management planning, and scholarly communication. A few of them are listed on this page.

If you have any questions or cannot find what you are looking for in the library, please let us know! 

ISU has a tradition of strong academic programs in the sciences and the Library collections reflect this. If you are looking for something and cannot find it via the Library website, please ask for assistance! Odds are pretty good that we really do have it! The ISU Library maintains one of the largest collections of scientific research materials in Iowa and is among the largest in the Midwest. The Library also maintains an extensive collection of industry standards (current as well as historic) in the Standards Center in Parks Library (Room 161). If for some reason we do not have access to the research materials you need, they can usually be obtained from another library (via Interlibrary Loan) within 24-48 hours.

We are privileged to have a number of experienced librarians on staff who are subject specialists. Our job is basically: to help you learn what is available; to navigate library resources more easily; to teach ISU students how to find/use/evaluate library resources; and to acquire research materials in your subject area(s). Please let us know if there is anything we can do to assist your use of library resources!