Provide expert research support to members of the university community
Competencies
- Analyze and understand users' research and information needs to develop, refine, assess, and sustain research and information services and programs in both physical and virtual environments
- Provide high quality reference and research support on-demand and through in-depth consultations by:
- Providing assistance and one-to-one instruction in finding and evaluating information
- Providing assistance in accessing library resources and services
- Providing support in using information effectively in multiple formats
- Providing feedback about user success with resources and services
- Providing scheduled service hours in person, e-mail, phone and/or chat
- Providing consultations for subject or other specialized areas of expertise
- Providing research support to faculty and administration for their own research and/or institutional initiatives
- Document and analyze data on research transactions, both at service points and for customized reference transactions
Best Practices
- Develop and conduct studies to assess users' research, information, and technology needs
- Share information with library colleagues about departments, e.g., curriculum changes and class assignments
- Create and maintain appropriate online research guides, tutorials, web pages, etc.
- Establish research mentorships with undergraduate students
- Optimize data for proficient searching and access within the discovery layer
- Meet with undergraduate WCE and Capstone researchers early and throughout the course to offer assistance
- Track and analyze data to better understand user behavior and make recommendations on how to improve services or interfaces
- Research topics of need for faculty or staff working on graduate or professional research
- Research educational trends for administration related to stated or possible campus initiatives or goals