pagerunner:

tikkunolamorgtfo:

librarian-amy:

okayto:

okayto:

Student: I can’t find any scholarly articles on this subject!

Me: Okay, what’s the subject?

Student: Creating a culture of sharing in west-coast technological companies.

Me: Alright, and what/where have you tried searching?

Student: I searched “creating a culture of sharing in west-coast technological companies” on the library website!

Me:

I’m still mad about this because it happens frequently. Students at all levels of education need library and research instruction–they should get it before graduating high school, they should be getting it in several different classes in college, and there should be something in grad school–seriously, there are people in my master’s program who don’t know anything besides Google.

And don’t say “they should have learned in [previous level of university education].” Do you think every person continues education within a few years of their first degree? THEY DON’T. Even if they did get a then-good introduction to research, you think nothing changed between 2008 and 2018? How about the doctoral student I met today whose last degree–and last experience with academic libraries–was in 1996? How about the guy in my master’s cohort who got his bachelor’s degree in 1987?

Because look. See that very specific topic the student wanted? There may or may not be actual scholarly articles about it. But here are a few things you can do:

• First, zoom out. Start broad. Pick a few phrases or keywords, like “tech companies” and “culture.” See what comes up.
• Actually, back up. First, does your library’s website search include articles, or do you have to go into a database? My library’s website searches some of our 200+ databases, but not all. And you’ll need to find (in advance search or adjustable limiters that pop up after your initial search) how to limit your search to scholarly and/or peer-reviewed articles.
• What other keywords are related or relevant? For the search above, you could use a combination of “silicon valley,” “company/ies” or “organization/s,” “sharing,” “collaborative,” “workplace culture,” “social culture,” “organizational culture,” and those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.
• Did you find something that looks promising? Great! What kind of subjects/keywords are attached (usually to the abstract, sometimes in the description section of the online listing)? Those can give you more ideas of what to search. Does it cite any articles? Look at those! Some databases (ilu ProQuest) will also show you a selection of related/similar articles.
• If you’re researching a very specific topic, you may not find any/many articles specifically about your subject. You may, for example, have to make do with some articles about west-coast tech companies’ work cultures, and different articles about creating sharing/collaborative environments.

That said, this student did the right thing: they tried what they knew to do, and then reached out for help.

They tried what they knew to do, and then reached out for help.

I get goddamn professors pulling this shit, there is not one single level in the academy where research literacy isn’t lacking.  

Oh hey this is my job!

So I work at a community college as a reference librarian (adjunct only so far, but here’s hoping) and while we do sit at the reference/information desk and answer student questions, our main job is to teach research classes. Throughout the semester instructors in other departments schedule class periods (sometimes one, sometimes multiple) and bring their students into the library for a class on research – based on whatever assignment they are working on at the moment. We work with the instructors to tailor that class (or scaffold it, for multiple sessions) to the research they need. We also go out to high schools and teach research classes there.

At least in my county, this program is unusual – most other colleges in the area don’t offer this type of collaboration between the library and the rest of the faculty. There’s plenty of faculty members who tell us their students don’t need help with research and then we get students from their classes coming in on their own to get that help and I’m sure there are plenty who don’t. (*glares at nursing program* Y’all are obsessed with evidenced-based practice for goddsakes!!)

Most of my classes cover exactly those bullets above (seriously, that’s great advice): start broad. Write down your research question(s) and underline the important words. Those are your first keywords. Brainstorm synonyms and related words too. Ask a librarian to show you how to use library databases. If you’re a student, you pay for those resources and they are MAGICAL. Try combining keywords using boolean operators: AND makes a search narrower, OR broadens it out, NOT eliminates terms. Only use quotes around keywords if you want those specific terms in that order. Use limiters (date, subject headings, full text) If one search doesn’t work, try another. It’s called RE-search for a reason. (Etymologically speaking, that could be bullshit, but it’s a great thing to tell students who aren’t interested in the ACRL framework’s “Research is iterative” spiel.) 

TLDR: If you’re a student, go talk to your librarians, explain your topic, and they will be happy to help you make a research strategy and find the resources you need. (Also, look for libguides – my director has a thing against them but they’re amazing.) Any academics reading this ramble, connect with your library and see if you might be able to have a librarian teach a research class. It’s so helpful to students. Some of them even get EXCITED about research!