I recall spending a lot of time in the library as an undergraduate student. Not only just because I worked there or had nowhere else to go, but also because I took a lot of classes that required X number of scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. Now I can’t be sure but I don’t think I was ever required to take a library seminar or was I even instructed on how to search the library databases as part of orientation. I do know that I had one or two courses where the professor invited a librarian to speak with us for no more than 15 minutes about searching the library catalog and a few of the databases.
Now what does any of that have to do with anything….well, the article “Convenience and its discontents” by Pete Coco reminded me of those blissful undergraduate days I spent wandering the library website. He mentions the single search box phenomenon (that seems to have stemmed from our favorite search engine) and how it certainly helps students find something but whether or not that something is the right thing is another story. Many times it is more helpful to go to disciplinary databases to complete searches than it is to go to the library’s single search box option. This I know from personal experience. My chemistry capstone project was to write a meta-analysis on a topic of my choice. Had we not been instructed on a particular database (SciFinder Scholar), I would have spent the entire semester just trying to find the research instead of writing the analysis. Like Coco says, it’s important to know what type of information is necessary and then utilize library resources that will help you meet that goal. Sometimes it will be the Google-esque single search box and other times it will be a specific database.
I know I never had any sort of classes on how to search databases when I was an undergrad. I had I think one 50 minute class when I was in grad school. I know that freshmen English students here have two 50 minute classes per semester, so that’s a bit of a step in the right direction. The one thing about the databases here is that there’s so many of them that it can be a bit overwhelming to someone that’s just starting to do research.
I think I mentioned this elsewhere, but I had a very similar experience as an undergraduate. However, I don’t recall a librarian ever explaining how to use the search tools. I do remember going into the library and feeling like the staff members were too busy to help or answer questions. It wasn’t anything they said, just the way they would hide behind their computers. I never felt comfortable enough to ask for help. I just eventually figured out how to navigate the catalog well enough to do my research, but I wonder how many students were lost and never found their way. It’s really important that professors and administrators work with academic librarians to teach information literacy because there is nothing in high school that can prepare you for the wealth of resources and tools in a college library.
[...] JoJo, Lizzie, Lisa M, Kiiva, Becky M, Kate, and Alex, I let out a hearty AH YES! at Coco’s perfect articulation of [...]
[...] I’m writing both in response to Pete Coco’s blog post, “Convenience and its Discontents: Teaching Web-Scale Discovery in the Context of Google”, and to Lisa M’s post in her blog To Meta or Not to Meta … that is the question. [...]
At UMass, first year students have the option (at orientation) of checking out the library instruction class – I think that’s too little too early – honestly, if I would have went to that, I would not have remebered anything when classes started. Our librarians do a pretty good job of advertising lib. instruct. but it’s up to faculty to book them. It’s very hard to navigate our library site to begin with & to be able to figure it all out on their own would be nothing short of a miracle.