Reference Questions

As all TU Libraries staff know, students tend to do things at the very last minute possible. Even ajarns are forced to sometimes finish projects in a big rush, and students usually do not have the organizational skills to plan in advance. Being able to anticipate workload enough to plan a schedule for productivity helps a lot in getting any project done. Academic research is like any other form of work in that it benefits from extensive planning instead of last-minute worries about finishing on time. The reality is that by the time a student asks us a research question, we must assume that it is an urgent matter. Sometimes students will admit to us that they are laste with an assignment or that it is due the next day. On other occasions, they will not say this, so it is better if we assume that any question is a matter of urgency. It is very easy for staff to suggest to students:

Try to plan ahead.

That is very useful information, but it tends to be too late for students to do anything about. Whehn they were first informed by ajarns that they will have to write a research paper, scheduling their work should of course have been part of their work. When investigating possible topics for research, the students may have asked librarians about popular subjects for particular classes. They will also have seen what sources are immediately available in the TU Libraries. If the students waited until the last minute before speaking to a librarian, it may be helpful to remind them:

Some reference questions take a lot of time to research.

They may think that an hour or two is enough for researching a subject. Depending on what sort of class and faculty is involved, and whether a short paper or thesis must be written, research can last for days, weeks, or even months. Students may find this fact discouraging. We may cheer them up by suggesting that by finally consulting a librarian, they may save much time by getting useful advice about how to budget their time as efficiently as possible:

Asking librarians about research can save time for students.

Also asking the right questions can save time, since it can prevent later mistakes. Ideally, when students are assigned a research paper, they will visit the library right away to get started on looking at potential subjects. They will quickly see that the librarian does not in fact do the research for them. Instead librarians act as guides, pointing in the right direction for useful information. Students who plan ahead in this way usually get better grades than those who do not. Nevertheless, even disorganized students who rush in at the last minute expect assistance, and librarians do their best to help in what time remains. When research must be done in very little time, the possible choices may become fewer. Information must be available without delay, and some students cannot wait a few days to receive matters by interlibrary loan, for example. Scheduling can help decide what will be written about in a research paper. Librarians may offer strategies to deal with these extra challenges, indicating what materials are already available in the library for immediate use. It is never too late to try to plan ahead. Even if the research paper is due very soon, it is a good idea for the student to be aware of certain dates when taking notes for research. The most important date is the planned day to finish the paper, checking all final edits. This should be done a few days before the due date of the paper, although in reality, few students manage to do that successfully. Even if the project is late, it is a case of better late than never to take note of planned dates of completion. Even the act of writing the day when the project will be done and handed to the ajarn should cheer up the students. It will remind them that the pain of doing the assignment will not be with them forever, and that one day relatively soon it will be over. So it is a good idea for librarians to suggest that students

Note a date for each source you will be examining.

This will make them sure to be conscious of the limited schedule for finishing all the work. Also, students should write an outline of their project in the form of a statement one or two sentences long. This should explain the purpose of their project and what they are trying to do. Students may find it surprisingly difficult to sum up in one or two sentences work that may take them a whole academic term or longer. Yet it is a useful exercise that allows them to clarify their ideas. Sometimes it helps to suggest:

Pretend you are telling a grandmother, uncle or aunt about what you are studying and why, but only in a sentence or two.

This exercise reminds them to stick to the point. Also, since they would be discussing their work to people who are not specialists in the field, they should avoid technical vocabulary. Often students are proud to have learned technical terms or abbreviations in class and use them, assuming them that the rest of the world knows what they are referring to. In writing research papers and theses, it is important to express findings as simply and clearly as possible, not in complex terms that try to impress the reader. Faced with an overly complicated argument, chances are the reader will simply be confused. When the sentence or two have been written, it is easier to keep to the point and not write about other subjects that may be interesting or even related to the matter at hand, but are not what the student should be focusing on. Another time-saving tip librarians may offer student researchers:

Make a note of the research sources being looked at.

That way, if they decide to include material from them in their academic research paper or thesis, they do not have to waste time going back to get the full reference information again. TU students now have the advantage of being able to use such bibliographical assistants as EndNote and Zotero, locating and identifying texts still takes some time. If students have written down the main information, this may help at a later stage of the project. Finally, students should

Schedule a day to begin writing the paper.

This should be as early as possible, to make sure that the students will be expressing their own ideas and findings early in the process. The whole point of any research project is for students to contribute their own points of view and materials to the ongoing world discussion of any subject. Students are given the opportunity to express themselves, and the sooner they do so, the better the result should be.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)