Faculty Guide to the Baylor Libraries

What is OsoFast? 

OsoFast is Baylor’s interlibrary loan (ILL) service. OsoFast provides temporary access to materials beyond those held in the Baylor Libraries.

You can use OsoFast to: 

• Place a new request
• Check the status of a request
• Renew ILL items
• Download delivered e-docs
• Recommend items to Baylor library collections
• And more...

How do I access OsoFast? 

Baylor students, faculty, and staff only need to have a valid Bear ID and password to access OsoFast. Distance education students now only need to use a single interface to request the information sources they need, including items owned by the Baylor Libraries.

You can login to OsoFast through the Baylor University Library's homepage, or follow this link: Link | OsoFast | Baylor University

Evidence synthesis projects require a significant time commitment and input from a team of experts to produce high-quality results. Did you know that both the Cochrane Handbook and the Campbell Collaboration recommend that librarians be on all evidence synthesis teams? 

The library offers a tiered service model for all Evidence Synthesis Projects: 

Tier 1: Facilitator

• Appropriate for students and faculty
• One-hour consultation session
• Introduce evidence synthesis and the different types of reviews
• Discuss possible sources to search
• Assist in identifying key terms and concepts
• Advise on query construction
• Introduce useful tools
• Click here for an appointment

Tier 2: Consultant 

• Appropriate for students or faculty
• 2-6 consulting sessions (# varies)
• Advise in selection of review type
• Advise and assist in source selection and key term compilation
• Advise and assist in search query construction
• Assist with citation tool set-up
• Assist with document acquisition
• Assist with identifying protocol registration options
• Click here for an appointment

Tier 3: Co-Author

• Appropriate for faculty or occasionally students on a case by case basis
• Multiple interactions
• Advise and assist in research question development
• Assist in selection of review type
• Collaborate in source identification and selection
• Assist in the development and registration of the review protocol
• Design, test, and conduct searches
• Coordinate citation management, search documentation, and document retrieval
• Manage search results and data storage archiving
• Write methodology for final manuscript
• Construct funnel plot for manuscript
• Click here for an appointment

Making a purchasing suggestion is easy: 

• You can suggest an item for purchase using the OsoFast service (Link | OsoFast | Baylor University). 
• Once you login, select the type of resource you are requesting and choose "Suggest for collection" under the drop-down menu for "Which best describes your level of need?"
• Be sure to provide as much information as possible including title, author, ISBN, publisher, publication year, etc. 

Alternatively, you can reach out to your Research Librarian, and they will make the request for you. Not sure who your librarian is? Navigate to the "Find Your Librarian" tab on the left! 

Baylor hosts seven special collections research centers and institutes on campus. Both faculty and students are welcomed and encouraged to utilize these centers in their research. 

Armstrong Browning Library

• Home to the world’s largest Browning collection of rare books, manuscripts, and Victorian-era art. Faculty can visit the Armstrong Browning Library (ABL) for teaching, research, or exhibitions. The ABL's greatest strength is in its materials focusing on the lives and works of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In recent years, the ABL has become known as a 19th-century research center after adding substantial book and manuscript collections on Matthew Arnold, John Ruskin, Joseph Milsand, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Dickens, as well as on many other 19th-century writers.

To search the collections at the ABL, navigate here: Search the Collections | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

To request access for research, navigate here: Use the Collections | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

Black Gospel Archive 

• The Black Gospel Archive (BGA) encompasses the Baylor Libraries’ numerous programs, projects, archival collections, and resources that identify, collect, preserve, and make accessible Black sacred materials. The BGA is designed with researching scholars in mind, and includes an insulated sound booth to allow for full immersion in the recordings. 

To book a visit to the listening pod, navigate to the booking page here: Space Availability - Black Gospel Archive Pod - LibCal - Baylor University

Arts & Special Collections Research Center

• Houses over 116,000 music scores, 54,000 fine‑arts books, and 75,000 audio/video recordings, plus rare items spanning centuries.

• Faculty can explore general materials via OneSearch and request access to special collections by scheduling a supervised reading‑room visit. Plus, librarians offer support for research, teaching, and publishing.

For more information on the collections, navigate here: Explore Collections | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

To schedule a visit, please fill out this form: Arts & Special Collections Research Center Visit Request

Baylor Collections of Political Materials at Poage Library

• Located in Poage Library, this archive features documents and media related to federal, state, and local political figures. Poage's collections offer outstanding resources for political or historical scholarship.

For more information on the collections at Poage Library, navigate here: BCPM Collections | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

To request materials for research, please fill out this form: Baylor Collections of Political Materials at Poage Library Visit Request

Institute for Oral History

• The internationally recognized Institute for Oral History collects and preserves personal narratives through audio interviews and transcripts. Faculty can apply for funding and assistance via fellowships, such as the Faculty Research Fellowship, and access the collection for interdisciplinary projects. Located in Carrol Library.

To explore Oral History recordings online, navigate here: Oral History Interviews

Please note that if you wish to use material from the Oral History collection for either scholarly or for-profit publication, you must first contact the Institute and be granted permission, as BUIOH holds copyright over all content found online. Please feel free to e-mail the Oral History Institute at BUIOH@baylor.edu.

Texas Collection and University Archives

• Founded in 1923, it includes roughly 200,000 volumes, 1.4 million photographs, oral history transcripts, maps, and archival collections documenting Texas history. Faculty can access materials for research and instruction.

To explore the collections please navigate here: Research With Us | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

To schedule a visit, please fill out this form: Texas Collection and University Archives Visit Request

Keston Center for Religion, Politics, and Society

• The Keston Center maintains the most extensive archives on religious persecution in communist and other totalitarian regimes—ideal for scholars in religion, politics, history, or sociology.

To explore the collections, navigate here: Collection | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

To schedule a visit, navigate here: Visiting Researchers and Scholars | University Libraries, Museums, and the Press | Baylor University

Research consultations are not just for students. Your research librarian is always happy to meet with you, and you should feel empowered to make an appointment with them no matter where you are in the research process.

Research librarians: 

• Assist with accessing and navigating library resources, including databases, journals, and special collections relevant to a faculty member’s area of study.
• Offer guidance on managing citations through tools like Zotero or EndNote, ensuring proper attribution and organization.
• Advise on best practices for data management, including storage, preservation, and sharing of research data in accordance with institutional and funding requirements.
• Help streamline the research process and enhances the impact of scholarly work, we can even help you track bibliometric and altimetric data for your tenure and promotion process!

Schedule an appointment with your librarian using the "Find Your Librarian" tab on the left.