Research Questions, Week 1 (2016 and 2017)

Great job, students!

We’ve enjoyed talking with you at the Research Desk at the Davis Family Library. You’ve asked us a lot of questions! More this year than last year, even.

In just the first week of classes, you stopped by 142 times, which is up from the 124 questions we received in Week 1 last year. That’s a 14.5% increase. Even more significantly, 72 of your questions were research-related, which is a 33% increase over last year!

What’s been going on at the Research Desk?

• We’ve helped people find books and DVDs (“Where is this call number located?”)
• We’ve figured out how to cite unusual sources (“How do I cite something I read in Chinese?”)
• We’ve discussed how to narrow a research topic, how to refine a search for scholarly articles, how to decide when it’s time to shift to a different research topic, and more

What do students say?

• “I just came from a research workshop for my first-year seminar, and I wanted to continue my search.”
• “Thank you! I’ve never known how to use Interlibrary Loan, so I’m glad I asked!”
• “I wish I’d come to see you last year!”

So please, keep on asking! We’re glad to answer.