It is reading day today which means that there are no
classes as exams begin tomorrow. There
are plenty of student in the library, but none of them are approaching the
reference desk. The decline in reference
transactions is continuing. In my
opinion there are two reasons for this:
- Student at a tech school are savvy enough to learn how to use the technical databases by themselves.
- Students are so in love with Google that they think if a Google search is negative, they think the result just doesn’t exist and will not even think of another approach. I guess the concept of Googling to find information is so ingrained in our popular culture that it makes its way to academia.
This past semester I made appointments to see 3 research
groups in the chemical engineering department to discuss informally the
resources and services of the library. I
feel that these encounters were moderately successful as some students did ask
questions that they would not have if they were attending a traditional lecture
for graduate students.
This endeavor did not work as well for civil engineering
students as I held two voluntary sessions where a total of 3 students
came. I will have to try to do a
tradition lecture next semester. I will
have to try the informal approach with graduate students in chemistry and
physics in the spring.
The number of postings in this blog has declined
dramatically as well. I used to discuss
interesting reference questions, but there have been so few of them.
I wish the readers of Bruce The Librarian a happy holiday
season and new year.
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