Library User Guide

Welcome, Cougars!  

This guide will introduce you to the Mary B. Blount Library and help you locate books, articles and data for course assignments or independent research. You can return at anytime to refresh your skills.

First, congratulations on choosing to attend an accredited university rather than educate yourself on Google! The information you will read and cite for Averett courses is reviewed by a community of researchers and professors. You will find many, though not all of our sources in WorldCat or Google Scholar @Averett:

Yancey Smith, Averett College Class of 1971
Bicycle Riders. 2010. Oil on canvas.
18.5" x 22.5"
Averett University Archives
Reproduced with permission of the artist

Why should I use the library?

Professors select library sources for Averett's liberal arts and professional curricula. As you explore research topics in more depth, you will discover books in libraries worldwide and borrow them through interlibrary loan.

The library's online databases cover 40,000 scholarly and professional journals in full text. Averett's print and electronic book collections include over 300,000 titles. The WorldCat database cites millions of books and media held by thousands of libraries, plus scholarly sources available on the web.

Learning Objectives

Let's start with the basics. On completing the exercises in this guide, you will know how to:

• find information sources and services at Blount Library,

• consult with Averett librarians,

• access the library online,

• search WorldCat and research databases for information on a subject,

• locate a book and borrow it from the library,

• read electronic books and e-articles licensed by Averett,

• request a book or article on Interlibrary Loan,

• select and evaluate your sources,

• record the information needed to cite sources supporting your research.