Libraries Have Changed

For those within the Daily Deacdom who went to college themselves, you may remember your collegiate library experience as a place where you were not allowed to eat, or drink, or talk. The atmosphere might have felt prim and proper, serious, with copious ssssssshhhh-ing if you were talking too loud.

That is not the library model of the modern era.

The ZSR Library and our academic leadership – very sagely – realized that by adapting the library model to be more student-friendly, we’d get a lot more students in the door. Which is why the ZSR had one of our first campus coffeeshops, originally Starbucks, now Camino Bakery, just off its entranceway.

Families (and students) may not be aware of all the ways that the ZSR can help our students. Well beyond providing a place to study or that cup of coffee, the ZSR offers a number of academic services that I do not recall having back in the day. Some examples:

Research Help – you can meet with a research librarian, email in questions, or watch tutorials. ZSR librarians can help students develop a research topic, locate sources, and offer assistance with citing sources. (Trust me – this kind of help is PURE GOLD!)

Subject Librarians – there are librarians who develop research expertise and know the best sources for individual academic areas. As your students have classes in particular departments or their major (or minor if applicable), knowing your subject librarian can be a huge help.

Library Classes – there are credit-bearing classes that help students develop or refine their information-literacy skills. And while all your students know how to Google, there is definitely a fine art to searching academic databases and other websites for papers and projects, and ZSR can help you learn to use those searches strategically.

The ZSR Library has developed a set of Information Literacy Learning Outcomes that are meant to be accomplished over an undergraduate student’s academic career. These outcomes include:

• Inquire: Define the extent of the information needed. Ask questions that provide additional lines of inquiry. Approach research as a process of inquiry.
• Find: Design searches strategically using advanced search techniques and careful selection of a search system.
• Evaluate: Critically evaluate information to determine its appropriateness for a specific purpose.
• Apply: Apply information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose. Contribute to the scholarly conversation at an appropriate level.
• Credit: Understand the value of information and practice contextually- appropriate attribution techniques when using others’ work.
• Reflect: Critically reflect on the gaps and weaknesses in their own research practices, those of their field, and of the information ecosystem as a whole.

Whether your student is an incoming ’26 or a rising senior ’23, they should take advantage of as many opportunities as they can to work with the ZSR library team!

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)