Article Note: On Impactful Research Appointments

Doing research consults with students is a big part of the job for the instruction librarians at my library. With COVID-19 in swing, we had to move the operation from in person to fully online, using the by now ever popular Zoom platform to do virtual consultations. The research appointment can be a source of anxiety for students as it is, and I would say it can be more so online. So I picked up this article to see what new ideas I can pick up to help students out. 

 

The author argues that the research appointment offers invaluable benefits for both the student and the librarian including better information literacy skills, nurturing trust and a sense of community. The article then argues that librarians need to develop and use their interpersonal skills as well as use empathy to help students decrease their anxiety about the library and meeting with a librarian. Make a good impression and the students will keep coming back, or so the author's argument goes. 

 

To be honest, a lot of the steps the author presents are things we do here at our library. I think the article may be really helpful to new librarians or to students in library school taking the reference services class. 

 

Notes and takeaways from the article: 

 

• The value of the research consultation: "The benefits of the scheduled consultation are plentiful, as the service not only impacts a patron's research capabilities positively, but also dissolves library stereotypes, reduces research anxiety, and builds the user's trust in the library" (1). 
• The literature confirms a belief we hold here in our library that research consults allow us to better engage students and keep their attention. As we often tell our students, when you schedule an appointment with one of us, you get the undivided attention of the librarian. Sure, you can stop at the Reference Desk and ask questions, which is fine, but that session may be shorter and can get interrupted by other students asking questions as well.
  
• This is also why for our information literacy workshops, which we were doing for incoming freshmen prior to COVID-19, were capped at 5 to 6 students. That is the number where the librarian can engage with students effectively, keep them engaged and get them to be active participants. 
• How the librarian performs in the consult is crucial: "The core weight of the research appointment depends on the librarian's performance, namely, whether or not they employ interpersonal skills, practice empathy, and build trust. In conjunction with providing adept information literacy guidance, these qualities lay the foundation for a successful research appointment, resulting in the diminishing of a student's library anxiety and the establishing of community" (2). 
• This seems a bit wordy for saying the librarian needs to be a human being and more than just an information and skills teacher. You are building relationships with students, and if you show empathy and those soft skills management gurus talk about, the students will remember you, come back when they have other needs, and they may even tell their friends. 
• The author writes that "the librarian's level of approachability directly relates to the success or failure of the research appointment" (4). This seems basic enough. Author further writes, "consequently, a successful research appointment is one that the student perceives as effective" (4). One of the questions I always ask the student as we wrap up a consult is if the consult is helpful for them, did they get what they needed at this time? 
• Things the librarian needs to do during the reference interview (kind of thing librarians should have learned in library school to be honest): ". . .listen to the student's needs, pose open-ended and follow-up questions, and then verify that they understand the user's research focus" (4). Also, the librarian needs to be a positive enabler for the student encouraging the student's curiosity and interest in the research topic. This helps build up the student's confidence. Providing the student some emotional support is part of the task for librarians as well. For me, this goes along with my theory of librarians as confessors. 
• More on open-ended questions: "By asking the user open-ended questions in the approach of Socratic teaching, and by inspiring a safe setting, the user will understand that their participation is welcomed and necessary" (8). Or so we hope. Once in a while you do get that student in consult where it feels like you are pulling teeth to get answers from the student. 
• This is a lesson I learned way back when I was a school teacher, admitting some degree of vulnerability so to speak. It was a way to humanize the teacher a bit as well as build student confidence if they saw themselves as sources of information and learning as well. We all learn together in the classroom. This is also applicable in research consults. The author writes, "To further establish the partnership, the librarian may admit that they are not an all-knowing expert. Specifically, while the librarian has research expertise, they do not have the same familiarity with the student's chosen academic discipline. As such, the librarian would appreciate guidance and brief subject overviews from the student at times" (8).
• As I often tell the students, I am not all knowing, but I am very good at knowing where and how to find what you need. So if the student gives me a little subject guidance on their topic, I can help them find the way. And in case of doubt, I do send them back to their professor, who is the subject expert to get clarification. Once they get clarification, they are welcome to come back and work with me. Once or twice I've even written to professors asking for some clarification on behalf of a student from a consult. 
• This is something we do here: as we help the student we go through the process so they can learn how we did it. We are not magicians (even if they think we are); there is no need to keep secrets of how we do things. "Similarly, the librarian should demonstrate exactly how they reach specific conclusions. For instance, the librarian could point to the clues that helped identify the source as relevant" (9). In this instance, this would be teaching students how to evaluate sources, an important information literacy skill.
  

 

 

 

Citation for the article: 

 

Meika E. Matook (2020): The Impactful Research Appointment: Combating Research Anxiety and Library Stereotypes, The Reference Librarian. 

Items from this article's bibliography I may want to read later: 

• Bennett, J. L. (2017). Virtual research consultations study. Internet Reference Services Quarterly,
  22(4), 193–200.
• Campbell, L., Matthews, D., & Lempinen-Leedy, N. (2015). Wake up information literacy
  instruction: Ideas for student engagement. Journal of Library Administration, 55(7),
  577–586.
• Grallo, J., Chalmers, M., & Baker, P. (2012). How do I get a campus ID? The other role of the
  academic library in student retention and success. Reference Librarian, 53(2), 182–193.
• McAfee, E. L. (2018). Shame: The emotional basis of library anxiety. College and Research
  Libraries, 79(2), 237–256.
• Rogers, E., & Carrier, H. S. (2017). A qualitative investigation of patrons’ experiences with
  academic library research consultations. Reference Services Review, 45(1), 18–37.