“I like that the help I received was one-on-one.”
“I liked that it was laid back.”
“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.”
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.
“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.”
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