So you’ve made an appointment to meet with a librarian, but you’re not sure, "What happens next?"
Before we get into the specifics, how do you know when you need help from a librarian? We are especially good at helping students find, evaluate, use, and cite information. We can also help you with certain aspects of computers and technology. While we aren’t writing tutors and typically do not review papers or essays for grammatical errors, we can help you with things like how to write an annotated bibliography or how to format a paper in Microsoft Word or Google Docs according to the required citation style. You can ask us anything – no question is ever dumb!
In many cases, the librarian’s first point of contact with you is through the online scheduler. It’s extremely helpful for the librarians to have some idea of what you’d like our help with before the appointment. When you schedule an appointment, the form will ask for your name and contact information. You will also see a question that asks you to tell us a bit more about what you’d like our help with (if it’s for a specific class, what kind of assignment you’re working on, etc.). However, even if you don’t have much more information than “it’s a research paper” we can work with that!
When you complete the form, the librarian gets a notification and will send you a link to join your virtual appointment or share information about where to meet them in person. Pro tip: If you’re still not sure where to meet, be sure to reach out to the librarian via email beforehand. You will get a reminder email up to three hours in advance.
You can expect to be met promptly on the day of the appointment. Whether you selected 30 minutes or an hour, you may need all the time you can get in the appointment, so we like to start on time whenever possible.
Once the appointment has begun, expect to be asked some questions about the assignment, such as whether you’ve done any preliminary research on your own (it’s okay if you haven’t) and about your familiarity with the resources available to you. Depending on your answers, you can expect to be shown where to find certain resources and, during the course of conversation, some best practices and ways to use those resources.
During the session we will listen as you ask us questions and we may ask you follow up questions too. It’s truly just a conversation that often includes getting a better sense for why you chose your topic, what your assignment requirements are, and what you’d like to know more about. Any research you do is yours—we won’t do your research for you. Rather, we are here to teach and guide you through the process.
During the course of the appointment you might realize that one appointment with the librarian may not be enough. That’s okay! We always encourage students to come back to us at any point during the research process. You can feel free to meet with us as many times as you need to get the resources and support you need for your project. The librarian will sometimes even follow up after the appointment with additional resources that could be useful to you, so be sure to use an email address you check somewhat regularly.
Once the appointment ends, expect to get a short follow up survey via email so that we can collect your feedback. We always aim to be as helpful as possible, so your feedback can help us to better support you. If you happen to miss the appointment (we know things come up at short notice sometimes), expect to receive a follow up email from the librarian to check in to see if you’d like to reschedule.
We hope you make use of the library and the librarians during your time at UDC. We’re pretty friendly and are always looking for ways to be helpful and supportive during your educational journey. Happy researching!
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