“I was able to open up about my project and get the help I needed.”

“I like that the help I received was one-on-one.”

“I liked that it was laid back.”

This is the kind of feedback Instruction Librarian Christin Wixson receives from students after leading a Research Clinic in Lamson Library. The one-on-one sessions designed to help students feel more confident about gathering research for various projects began in the fall 2023 semester and are slowly growing in size and popularity. Students report the clinics are productive, promote learning, and also make them more apt to seek help from a librarian.

“Many students have different levels of comfort in a library,” Wixson explains. “We go for an informal feel when we craft the sessions so it’s low-stakes—a little bit social and a little bit playful. It humanizes the librarians, and students learn we can help them.”

The clinic experience

Clinics are always assigned by a professor, and they occur outside of class time in 75-minute blocks. Students in different courses, in a range of disciplines, come together in one relaxed and supportive space for an assist with gathering research. If the clinic size is slated to be over six or seven students, Wixson brings in another librarian to ensure the one-on-one discussions.

When students arrive at a clinic, they know what assignment they will be working on, and the librarians have been prepped as well, so they have some sense of what research skills will be needed. Wixson begins each Research Clinic with an ice breaker so students get comfortable, and then they begin working as the librarian circles the room, spending about 10 to 15 minutes with each student on his or her specific project.

“Students will talk with their peers about their projects and experiences as well,” Wixson says, adding, “We don’t want it to feel rushed, and we want to ensure the clinics are useful.”

First-years in composition classes are the biggest users of the Research Clinics along with juniors and seniors working on significant research projects.

With composition students, Wixson says assignments tend to be open-ended, and librarians are helping students understand what makes a good research topic. “With older students, we’re more likely to see research that demands students look in more than one place,” she explains, noting that students are led through the use of the library’s data base, Google Scholar and advanced search engine use to uncover specifics from organizations or government reports. “Students aren’t usually familiar with all the pieces of that. We help them assess, ‘Where should we look? What kinds of organizations would produce the information we need, and where would you look to find that?” she said.

Rejuvenating student library use

Research Clinics at Plymouth State University were launched in part because librarians were noticing that standard librarian visits to classrooms to support research wasn’t always effective. Since COVID, Lamson Library has also seen a decline in the number of students seeking research support from the reference desk.

“This is a national trend,” Wixson says. “It’s not unique to Plymouth State. We hoped the clinics would be a way for us to address both of these situations and make connections with more students.”

So far, the idea has caught on, fueled in part by marketing materials designed by Brooke Flanagan ’26. Students leave a Research Clinic with Band-Aid-shaped stickers that say, “It doesn’t have to hurt.”

Developing critical skills

Wixson says Research Clinics are absolutely helping students learn to organize their thought process, be prepared and collaborate with librarians to achieve a goal. “We’re making sure students get the academic support they need when they’re wrestling with an individual research question. We are helping to hone their research skills.”

Alice Pearman, a collection management librarian who helps lead clinics, said students are not always aware of the support services available on campus, or if they are, they might be reluctant to make use of them.

“Research Clinics support students’ course assignments, but they also demonstrate our research services,” she says. “We hope that after attending a research clinic, students will be more likely to ask for help the next time they encounter a research need, or encourage their friends to do so.”

PSU librarians love the renewed interaction with students. “Every single one says they missed this part of the job when the reference desk wasn’t getting used as much,” Wixson says. “To have that back feels really good. Our strongest interactions with the students are when they do these one-on-ones.” ■ Janice Beetle