Skills for University Success

Course Number: AF105S-B

Subject: Interdisciplinary

Library Skills for University Success

Fall 2024, Prof. Brent Hagerman

Hello AF105S-B students!

Below are the questions you submitted for class, with answers. Click each section to expand for details.

Questions on the role of the librarian

What is the role of the librarian?
- Librarians are here to support the research and teaching functions of the university.
- We generally collect, classify, organize and disseminate all kinds of information, but focus on mostly on scholarly sources.
- We also teach students and faculty how to use the resources we subscribe to, like research databases.
- These days librarians do a lot of things you wouldn't think of: assist in curating Open Access journals and other "educational resources" (OERs), conduct bibliometric analyses for scholars and university administrators, oversee and manage Institutional Repositories (like Laurier's Scholars Commons), manage Research Data for universities, and more!
What type of help could we go see a librarian for?
- We're here to help you navigate the complex world of the academic library, whether it is assisting you conduct better searches, determine if a source is scholarly or not, making sure you can access a journal we subscribe to, or help you build and conduct an in-depth literature review - just to name a few things.

"Library 101" questions

How are the books organized in the library, by author, topics, genres?
- The library organizes books according to subject, as outlined by the Library of Congress (LC) Classification system
Do the different floors of the library reflect different categories of books?
- Not really, except for the 4th floor, which contains all the music books
  - M: 4th fl
  - A-GF: 5th fl
  - H-PN: 6th fl
  - PQ-Z: 7th fl
- See our page on Finding call numbers to properly read call numbers on physical books
- Go to our Locations page (for the Waterloo library) and click the section for each floor to see what range of books are found there, with a floor map
How to sign out a book from the library?
- Are books free to sign out? Yes!
- If you are being prompted to pay for a book, you're likely looking at a book outside our collection; DON'T PAY - we can request it for you for free
How do you sign a physical book out?
- Read the book's record in Omni to find out availability and location information
- Determine what floor the book is on
- Get the book off the shelf, then go to the Main (2nd) floor
- Use your OneCard to sign the book out at the User Services desk or the Self-checkout machine
How long is the loan period of a physical book? Does it change for digital material?
- Physical book = 120 days; multiple renewals
- eBooks different:
  - sometimes 1 day: Emoji speak : communication and behaviours on social media
  - sometimes unlimited user access: Streaming video : storytelling across borders
  - We have access to Canadian University Press eBooks through a license agreement, like this one: Canuck rock: a history of Canadian popular music
  - We also subscribe to many eBook collections (book titles available individually through Omni)
How do we book rooms in the library?
- Click the Book a Room link on the top right of all library website pages
Can I go to the library to ask about correct citing?
- YES! Ask me
Am I able to reserve a book online before I come to pick it up in person?
- YES! See the instructions from our User Services Team below:
  1. Locate the item you want in the OMNI catalogue
  2. Under the 'How to Get It' header, sign in using your Laurier credentials
  3. Select 'Borrow from Laurier Library' to make sure it is the on-site item
  4. From the drop down menu select a pickup location (i.e. Wilfrid Laurier University Library at Waterloo)
  5. Our staff will collect the item and put it on the hold shelf for pickup with a slip identifying you.
  6. You will automatically receive an email saying it is ready for you to collect. You can then checkout the item either by using the self-check machine or at the service desk near the library entrance.
- How long does this process take?
  - The time frame can vary depending on when the request is made.
  - Generally speaking, requests are often fulfilled in under 24 hours with the majority being fulfilled within a few hours of the request.
  - It can sometimes take longer if an item is missing and we have to make arrangements with one of the Omni partners to get in a copy for you. If that happens, the turnaround time is usually 2-5 business days depending on which partner we need to ship the item in from.
- We have a short video explaining this process as well.
How would you recommend navigating the library as a new first year student?
- See the HELP menu item in the top nav bar on the library homepage, then check out the following sections:
  - User Groups help - see the section on First Year Undergraduate Students
  - Common Activities > Getting Started
  - Tutorials - filter to those for Undergraduate students
Do Library hours change during examination periods (ie. later hours, room booking process)?
- Yes, extended hours start on Dec. 5th; open 8:30 a.m. to 2 am
Are there non-scholarly books in the library?
- Yes, we have lots of non-scholarly books (like works of literary fiction, graphic novels, primary sources).
- How to tell if a book is scholarly? Watch this short video
Why are there books of old Ontario records in the Library?
- We collect a lot of Government Documents from the days when we (and all Ontario/Canadian Universities) were "depository libraries" and had these important pieces of government information deposited to them for the purposes of general public access, research, and teaching.

Questions about library research

When doing a research paper, is there any difference between doing research and getting information from a book rather than a website?
- Each has different characteristics to consider, with pros/cons:
  - Books are "static" and can't be changed, not as recent as information from a website, but if they are published from a reputable, scholarly publisher, are considered credible and part of the "scholarly conversation" worth consulting
  - Websites provide recent information and are thus more up-to-date than books, but are not "peer-reviewed" as books are; always apply the 3 criteria (in this video, for scholarly books) to evaluate website credibility: author, publisher, documentation
What are some effective ways to evaluate the credibility of online sources, especially when researching independently?
- Yes, watch this short video put together for Global Studies on the credibility of sources

If you find two or more resources that are relatively the same, what are your strategies on picking the best one?
- It always depends on the kind of question you are researching, but in general:
  - Prefer scholarly sources over non-scholary
  - Prefer recent work over older (it should include older work in its review of the literature)
How to find something specific on Omni (what to type into the search bar to find relevant and helpful sources)
When finding sources on Omni how can you find more specific papers?
- It's helpful to take your question, and create important concepts to search in Omni
- Here are 2 helpful Omni tutorials:
  - How to find and limit to scholarly articles in Omni
  - Advanced search in Omni
How can you verify a selected book you've chosen (in the physical library) is a peer-reviewed and/or academic book?
- Watch this video How to find scholarly books