Collins Library Links: Library Research Help for First-Year Students

In the week leading up to Fall Break, Collins Library was filled to the brim with students studying for midterms and conducting research for their project proposals. For many first-year students, the mid-point of the fall semester serves as a wake-up call to the intellectual demands of college. Indeed, as one first-year student noted during a research consultation with a liaison librarian last week, “Things just got real.” The college library is an unfamiliar and sometimes intimidating place for many of these students (see Research Practices Survey results below), and Collins Library offers several services to support both students and the faculty who teach them:

Liz Roepke ’15, Library Peer Research Advisor New! Liz Roepke ’15 is the library’s first-ever Peer Research Advisor! Liz has received extensive training and is ready and eager to help first-year students and others enrolled in introductory courses. Liz is available to meet with individual students in a comfortable, non-threatening atmosphere to provide research support and follow-up to library instruction. Liz also writes a regular Friday blog post for Collins Unbound; her most recent post was on the importance of time management. Please let your students know about this new service; Liz can be reached by email:   peerresearch@pugetsound.edu.

• The subject and course guides created by Collins librarians are fabulous starting points for research. In fact, many seniors comment that these guides are the single most important library resource that they regret not using earlier in their college careers. Faculty members who would like a customized library course page created for them should contact their liaison librarian.
• As always, Collins Library continues to offer multiple avenues for receiving help at any point in the research process.

Where do our first-year students struggle the most with research? This past August, our incoming students received invitations to take the Research Practices Survey and 43 percent of them completed it while 67 percent partially completed it. Key findings:

• Limited Experience with Library Research Tools

o   Only 56 percent had used an online library catalog
o   Just 57 percent had searched a subscription database like JSTOR
o   Only 44 percent correctly structured a Boolean search query

• Incomplete Understanding of Basic Research Concepts

o   Only 21 percent correctly defined the difference between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine

o   Just 47 percent correctly identified the purpose of a citation; 22 percent indicated that they thought paraphrasing did not require a citation.

o   Students were inconsistent in identifying primary sources in the disciplines; for example, 88 percent correctly identified empirical research as a primary source in the sciences, but only 45 percent identified a novel as a primary source in literary studies.

• Main Research Challenges

o   Students were given the opportunity to identify what they believe to be their main challenges when conducting research. About half of the respondents indicated that the following components of the research process are either “somewhat difficult” or “very difficult” for them:

o   Selecting a topic, including narrowing or broadening that topic

• Determining whether a source is credible
• Developing the main argument, thesis statement or hypothesis
• Organizing materials into a logical and unified structure
• Deciding what information from the sources to integrate into the paper
• Expressing ideas clearly
• Knowing when to cite a source

Interested in learning more about the library’s teaching and research services? Email Peggy Burge for more information.

Need Information? Don’t forget the Collins Memorial Library Library Guides
Questions? Contact your liaison librarian
Comments: Contact Jane Carlin, Library Director
Remember – Your best search engine is a Librarian!