Library Workshop
All students completing a Commonwealth Honors Project MUST attend one library workshop, offered in the first month of the semester. Once the CHP liaison librarian receives a complete list of students working on their CHPs that semester, she will email all CHP students to set a time to meet. If needed, up to two workshops may be offered at different times (with the same content), so that students can choose which would fit their schedule best.
If you are unable to make one of the scheduled library workshops, you must reach out to the CHP liaison librarian, Anna Boutin-Cooper, so that an alternative arrangement can be made. You can reach Anna via email at aboutincooper@westfield.ma.edu.
Assigned Library Liaison
Each student completing a Commonwealth Honors Project will be assigned a librarian who will serve as their designated point person for any library or research-related questions. Students will be notified of their assigned library liaison early on in the first semester of their CHP. If you have any questions or concerns, or, if you are not notified of your assigned library liaison, please contact Anna via email at aboutincooper@westfield.ma.edu.
You are encouraged to meet with your library liaison at least once over the course of your CHP, and it is recommended that this happen towards the beginning of your project. Your library liaison is a research expert, and is available to help -- please take advantage of their expertise!
Additional Meetings with Your Library Liaison (As Needed)
You may be required by your committee to meet with your assigned library liaison above and beyond the recommended first meeting. You should know whether this is required by the time of your first committee meeting. Please see the CHP Handbook for more details, or speak with your project advisor.
There are many resources available through Ely Library that can help you with your CHP work. We highly recommend meeting with your assigned library liaison if you have any questions about navigating the resources at Ely Library as they pertain to your CHP. Here's an introductory guide to some of the available resources.
Databases: Find Research, Articles, Media, and More!
Ely Library subscribes to over 270 databases, which are available for student use at any time. For a full list of the databases available to you, use the Database A-Z List. You can sort this list by subject area (like art, psychology, sociology, and more), as well as by type of resource (like newspaper articles, scholarly research, and multimedia, to name a few).
Subject Research Guides: Help with Your Subject Area!
Each of the librarians at Ely Library are tasked with specific subject areas that they work with, and one of the responsibilities that we have is to create and maintain a subject research guide for each of the disciplines offered at WSU. For a complete list of subject guides, visit the Subject Area Research Guides page. These guides will have resources compiled by librarians that are specific to the discipline represented by the guide.
Need an Article or Book that We Don't Have? Use Interlibrary Loan!
We are happy to offer Interlibrary Loan (ILL), a service that provides current WSU students, faculty, and staff with access to materials not currently owned by Ely Library. We are able to borrow a wide range of materials using ILL, including books, book chapters, and PDF files of journal, newspaper, and/or magazine articles. For more information on submitting an ILL request, please visit the ILL page on Ely Library's website.
Please note that items obtained from ILL may take between 7-10 days to arrive at the library, on average. Turnaround time is generally quicker for PDFs, but this is still not an instantaneous service. Please plan accordingly!
Still Have Questions? Set Up a Research Consultation with a Librarian!
You can always email your library liaison directly to set up a time to meet with them, but if you do not know or remember your library liaison, you can always set up a research consultation with an available librarian using the Meet with a Librarian form. A librarian will be in touch shortly after receiving the form request to set up a consultation with you at a mutually convenient time.
Are you interested in preserving future access to your CHP? Consider archiving your CHP with the Westfield State University (WSU) Digital Repository. Authors (that's you!) will have the opportunity to share their work by submitting final projects to the WSU Digital Repository. This will provide the author(s) with a long-term storage solution that is publicly available over the web.
Why submit your CHP to the Digital Repository? The archiving solution is free and provides web-based access that can be shared with a future employer, a fellow colleague/researcher, or an incoming Honors student. Author(s) will be publicly recognized for their completed projects by having a standard solution that is easy to search. The archived CHPs will also help improve the prestige and institutional reputation of WSU.
Who will own the copyright? The author will always retain the copyright ownership but may also consider assigning a Creative Commons license during the submission process (recommended).
What if I have more questions? Author(s) can reach out to the Honors Center for additional information about archiving their CHPs. Please direct questions about the repository or the submission process to ElyRepository@westfield.ma.edu.
I'm ready, how do I submit my CHP to the archive? The process is simple and can be completed in just a few steps. Be sure to gather your advisor's sign off and a PDF of the final project before starting this process. Here's what to do:
