Notes of a Veteran Librarian Contemplating a New Academic Year
by Nick Tomaiuolo

Ten items a reference librarian of sixteen years believes first year college students should know:

1. The World Wide Web is not the only resource that needs to be consulted for a given assignment. The library offers numerous materials not available on the Web. For a sampling, check CONSULS, the catalog of the CSU libraries, and/or ask a librarian for assistance. Help with research assignments is available all of the hours during which the library is open.

2. Pay close attention to instruction on using the library given in your class. As with films, where there are no superfluous characters, in class there are no superfluous allusions, remarks, or information.

3. While there is no such thing as a “stupid question,” a question that is carefully constructed and no broader than necessary tends to be more manageable and answerable than one that begins, “I have to do a paper – it can be on any topic…”

4. As with verbal questions, malformed search queries yield little, if any, practical results. Despite a student’s web searching aplomb, most subscription database search engines require some thought about the words one will be searching and the manner in which the search engine will process those words prior to typing. It’s useful to compile a list of synonyms for key terms that best describe your topic. For example, if your topic pertains to the impact of drug treatment programs on incarcerated women, your list of terms might resemble: women, females; prisoners, inmates, incarcerated; drug, narcotics; treatment, therapy. By taking a minute to compile this list, you have something to draw from in the event a particular word or phrase yields too few (or many) results. It is also useful to learn the “rules” for searching a particular resource before diving in. Most databases have examples of proper search syntax on the main search page or provide a link to examples.

5. And speaking of subscription databases: subscription databases are digital depositories of (mostly) published information. For college assignments they are usually preferable to using the “free web.” However, students need to knowledgeably decide the correct database(s) to use and, as mentioned in #3, how to search them. Yes, one can locate articles from magazines, journals, preprints, newspapers and similar traditional materials on the “free web,” but the advantages to using subscription databases are many: the content is more comprehensive, the indexing (i.e., “fields” in which one can search or browse) is superior, and the materials are usually homogenous. In a “free web” search one might encounter articles, commercial sites, newsgroup threads, etc. whereas the database search will retrieve only materials in the scope of the database.

6. Although certain mediums (particularly hypertext) can augment information, the majority of electronic full text journal articles will contain the same information/words/tables etc., that are presented in its print or microfilm counterpart. Therefore, from an information perspective, there is no difference in the material.

7. Since information students are likely to encounter in the course of your research will be in diverse formats (print, digital, microform, etc.) they need to become conversant with the names and uses of the research tools in the library. Students need to know what the library catalog is and how to search it, as well as where to go to find materials. They need to know the location of the journal collection and understand the differences between what materials are identified and described in library catalogs versus abstracting and indexing databases. Finally, they should understand that the reference department is the primary source for assistance of a research nature and know the function of interlibrary loan.

8. Even with advances in information storage, retrieval and searching, there are still many questions and research topics that require time and thought to fully answer or investigate. It is unrealistic to expect that you, the researcher, will be able to locate “x number” of critical essays on a given topic, say Dante’s Divine Comedy or, by contrast, philosophical and legal arguments as to whether the United Kingdom should return the Elgin Marbles to Greece in a brief search session with the library’s databases or the World Wide Web. Most questions, other than the quick reference type such as “what are the names and addresses of all the U.S. senators?” or “how many people are on Death Row?” require patience and contemplation. The library has many resources, but they can’t all be summoned at a moment’s notice by an incantation. Always allow enough time to identify, locate, read  and synthesize materials relevant to your research!

9. Not every library will have everything one needs for every question or topic one may wish to investigate. Students would be wise to be aware of this and flexible in their plan for accomplishing a research goal.

10. There is a “system” to the organization of every library. It’s usually not excessively arcane or mysterious but it requires some knowledge, experience and practice to effectively use the library. A number of printed library guides in addition to ones on the library’s website are designed to introduce students to the library and help with getting started.