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In the Spring of 2011, the Research and Instruction Services Team piloted a program to embed a Reference Librarian in residence halls to assist students with research late in the semester. This semester we are increasing the pilot further, setting up sessions in a variety of residence halls at a variety of times to learn more about the best times and locations for this service.

Last week we held hours in Luter Residence Hall on Monday from 2-4pm, in Bostwick Residence Hall on Wednesday from 7-9pm and in Johnson Residence Hall on Sunday from 3-5pm. We learned a great deal by varying the days and times. First, the large formal parlors in both Bostwick and Johnson received far more traffic than the modern lounge in Luter that is a bit off the main travel path. Second, the Sunday afternoon time slot garnered the most business, with six research questions in two hours, four of which turned into a thirty-minute personal research session. Having candy on Monday and Wednesday to offer the students and pizza on Sunday turned out to be an excellent ice-breaker the encouraged students to come over the table and ask questions. Many just took candy, but a couple of those students came back later with their ThinkPad and a research question.

We would like to explore opportunities to have librarians associated with particular residence halls and expanding these visits to the residence halls. Many of the students who walked passed thanked me for being there even if they didn’t need research assistance and all the students who had a personal research session were very complimentary of the Library and appreciative that we were in the residence hall.

Embedded Librarian Sign-Bostwick Parlor