Reference and Information Services The purpose of the Reference and Information Services department is to provide information, reference assistance, and research assistance in a timely manner to support the academic programs and research of the students, faculty, researchers, staff, and guests of UAH. Reference Transactions The primary transaction of the Research Help Desk will be questions related to UAH – about the Library collection, coursework, the campus itself, the history of the region, or any other topic as needed. Answers will be as honest and thorough as possible, regardless of the question or of the person asking, as long as this does not violate any other rule. The reference librarian may determine that a question is beyond the purview of the reference department or is taking up too much time. Due to the vast variety of reference questions, there is no one fixed set of criteria on what is or is not in the purview; see also the section for “Questions not answerable." Questions Not Answerable Questions that equate to the librarian doing school assignments for the student (including assignments not related to UAH). Questions of medical advice. Questions of legal advice. Questions that violate any law or contract, including, but not limited to, questions that would violate privacy, trademark, copyright, or license between the library and a vendor. Questions asked in an abusive or harassing manner. Questions deemed to violate these rules may be referred to the Department Chair and Library Director as appropriate. (Repeat or severe violations may be referred to appropriate authorities - e.g. Charger360 - based on this escalation at the discretion of the Chair/Director.) Contact the Research Help Desk The Research Help Desk can be contacted in-person, by phone, and by various methods of electronic communication (email, chat, etc.). Contacting subject specialists directly at their office extension or by their campus email is allowed and recommended for lengthier queries. Maintaining Patron Privacy The privacy of the patron will be maintained in regard to his or her reference questions. Records of reference transactions may be used for internal training needs within the Library. For certain types of transactions, some information about the patron will be seen in the Library's systems (such as the patron's email address or phone number). In some situations, a reference question may need to be transferred to a third party for assistance. The patron will be notified before their question is transferred. Only information necessary to answer the question will be passed on. If a patron wishes to have their transaction removed from the system, an attempt will be made to remove any distinguishing information from the transaction. Reference Statistics Information about reference transactions (by type, location, method received, sources used, etc.) will be analyzed to determine collection development, instructional design, budget allocation, appropriate service hours, and staffing, following the guidelines of the Reference and User Services Association (a division of the American Library Association), Special Considerations for Electronic Resources Electronic resources (i.e., digital resources, databases, etc) have special agreements between the Library and the vendor which in general state that these resources may only be used by UAH affiliates and authorized guests. Some electronic resources may have a contractual stipulation that access is only from the UAH Library or otherwise on-campus. Any attempt to retrieve a document by a non-UAH affiliate should come through interlibrary loan requests from the guest's host institution's library. Any special vendor restrictions, such as Harvard Business Review's exception to deep-linking, will be upheld by the department librarians. Librarians will not violate any other institution's agreements by attempting to access their electronic files except through official channels, such as interlibrary loan. Updated May 14, 2025