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The Highlighter: Meet the Librarians

  • Posted by: Daniella Snyder
  • Posted Date: September 4, 2018
  • Filed Under: Library News

The Highlighter is the run down on the best resources The Falvey Library has to offer.

The best way to use Falvey Library like a pro? Use our best resource: living, breathing librarians! Find your subject librarian, follow the link, and schedule an appointment with them to get started on those research assignments.

Darren Poley, Librarian for Humanities, Classics, Theology & Religious Studies

“I am an instructor for ACS. I love Classical Studies,
but I specifically love teaching Shakespeare and the more modern stuff.”

Daniella: How do you best help Villanova students?

Darren: By having conversations– typically in my office, by appointment or drop-in. I like getting to know what a student’s project is and what they hope to accomplish. That helps me to help them best.

Daniella: Do you have any hidden research tips?

I think the subject guides are really under-utilized as a resource. Every librarian creates subject guides for their areas. They’re personally curated, vibrant, and user-friendly. But I don’t think many students know about them, and that we are open to taking suggestions as to how to improve them. If a student doesn’t know to use it, they can come in and get help.

Daniella: What do you wish you knew when you were an undergraduate?

Darren: Librarians are not scary. They love helping people. I learned that late as an undergrad. I loved the library, and I was a big library user. When I was an undergraduate, I would bring books back at the end of the semester in suitcases. But during senior year, I had to do two theses, and I was struggling. Finally, my professor told me to see this one librarian. She was the kindest and most helpful woman. My second thesis was a breeze after that.

 

Jutta Seibert, Director of Research Services & Scholarly Engagement

“In the early 1980’s, I hitchhiked from France to the Sahara Desert.”

Daniella: How do you best help Villanova students?

Jutta: It depends! I work with graduate students and undergraduate students. In History, there are so many different research topics and projects. In some cases, a student may only need 2-3 sources, whereas other students are looking for primary documents that are really difficult to track down. I work with the student, and then I try to deliver. There’s really no one-size-fits-all answer. Last fall, I answered about 248 emails, either through appointment or email.

Daniella: Do you have any more pieces of research advice, especially for a first-year student?

Jutta: My big tip is to talk to somebody, preferably a subject librarian. I always get so frustrated when someone says “I spent hours trying to find this” when it could have taken me five minutes. I understand the value of wanting to do something yourself, but we can teach you how to do it yourself.

Daniella: Do you have any tips to use the library website more effectively?

Jutta: The one thing I think students don’t realize is the power of “Search Everything” on the library website. It finds articles, websites, people, books…really anything in the library.

 

Michael Foight, Director of Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement

Daniella: How do you best help Villanova students?

Michael: I connect them with primary sources, assist in the shaping of their research questions. Maybe I can also offer a little bit of inspiration.

Daniella: Do you have any cool projects you’re currently working on?

I help run a Digital Partners Program. We’re offering free digitization to our affiliated partners’ materials to preserve heritage. I deeply believe in the transformative nature of digitization, and the resultant curation and maintenance of this digital content.  It is one of the essential duties of a heritage professional – and must be made a part of the regular operational routine of every archive, museum and special collection. I’m very passionate about connecting researchers and the public with rare heritage materials. Digitization – collaboration – the open and free access to content, open source collaboratively developed software – these are ideas that can transform the prestige economy from status being given to those who limit access to those who share the most.

Daniella: What do you wish you knew when you were an undergraduate?

Michael: Youth is wasted on the young. Only with the experience can you relish certain experiences. Appreciate every moment you have. Like Dead Poets Society, you should seize your moment. Carpe Diem.

 

Linda Hauck, Business Librarian

“This summer, I swam 42 miles and I took my family
on a Wilderness Paddle to Shoshone Geyser Basin
in Yellowstone National Park.”

Daniella: Do you have any hidden research tips?

Linda: There’s not really one research tip, because everyone’s project is different. Because I most often work with business students, I find that many of them aren’t very knowledgeable on company and industry reports. To get a good idea and understanding of an industry, the reports are great. There are a number of databases that will connect you to those reports, and they are featured on the research guide I’ve created. I often point people to that. Also, I almost always advise them to look at trade associations and professional organizations associated with a particular industry.

Daniella: What do you wish you knew when you were an undergraduate?

Linda: It’s really important to cultivate relationships with your faculty and university staff. It can make the college experience much richer, by developing those relationships. There are also so many research opportunities that exist now, that didn’t exist when I was an undergraduate. Do those.

Daniella: Any new projects happening that you’d like to share?

Linda: It makes me really excited to share the Affordable Materials Project. Our mission is to provide faculty with resources and options for selecting high quality course materials while reducing the cost for students. We were able to purchase certain textbooks that were assigned for classes. The e-books can be accessed by students from wherever, not just the library. It’s gotten a lot of good support so far.

 

 


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Last Modified: September 4, 2018

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