Two librarians at Middleton Library have launched a pilot series of workshops to help students learn how to research better.
The new series, called “The Librarian is In,” will focus on teaching students what cannot be covered in a brief visit to the Reference Desk, said Karen Dennison, an engineering librarian.
The workshops began last week and focus on using databases and other technological sources in the library.
For example, the Web of Knowledge workshop provides help in using science, social science, and arts and humanities citation indexes.
The Current Awareness Services workshop will show students how to stay up-to-date on recently-published research.
“A lot of people don’t realize that we have all these resources,” said Jessica Patterson, business, patent and trademark librarian.
Though these librarians specialize in the specific areas of engineering and business, Patterson insisted the courses are for everyone.
“We cover a lot of basics, which are helpful to any major,” Patterson said.
The workshops are free to students. The schedule is on the LSU Libraries Web site, www.lib.lsu.edu/librarianisin and lists the different courses as well as their dates and times.
Patterson emphasized that the course times are flexible, and she and Dennison will work with any student’s scheduling conflicts.
“There’s not enough time at the Reference Desk,” Dennison said. “We want to help students learn as much as possible about the library and its resources.”
Patterson said she was motivated to get involved in the workshops after helping many upperclassmen with basic use of library resource.
“I’ve had way too many seniors come to me and say, ‘I wish I’d known. All this would have really helped me,’” Patterson said.
Patterson said she and Dennison have been planning the workshops since last semester.
Last Tuesday, students had the opportunity to attend the Business Source Premier workshop. It taught students how to use the database, which offers information in various areas of business including management, economics, finance and accounting.
On Wednesday, Dennison taught the Engineering Information Village 2, an instructional workshop on how to use Compendex, a complex, interdisciplinary engineering database.
At 1 p.m. today, the library will host a WorldCat workshop. WorldCat is a database that allows students to search a catalog of books and other materials in libraries around the world.