Dear Editor,
We appreciated the profile of the library recently published in The Marlin Chronicle (“Underutilized campus resources aim to assist,” Sept.14, 2023), but we feel your correspondent has, if anything, understated the amazing variety of ways students can use their library to enrich themselves and increase their academic performance.
If you’re in a STEM field like Biology or a pre-professional program like Business, Criminal Justice, Nursing or Education, you will make constant use of databases accessible through the library website to access the latest research and learn about best practices in your field.
The library’s print and e-book collections and interlibrary loan service are your access point for an entire universe of books from every country and taking in virtually any topic you might wish to learn about, including grammars, dictionaries and literary collections for language learners, primary and secondary sources for studying history, art and culture, how-to guides for a wide range of technology skills and disciplines, graphic novels, DVDs and Blu-Rays and cameras, tripods, tablets and computers with graphic design and editing software for studying and composing in multiple media formats, as well as leisure books for when you just want take a break.
Yes, the library can give you what you need to complete assignments for classes, but more than that, whatever you want to study, whatever skill or area of knowledge you want to cultivate (or add to your resume so you can land a better job), the library can help you do it; and studies in peer-reviewed journals like the ACRL’s College and Research Libraries have routinely shown that students are more successful academically when they make regular use of their library.
Lastly: each of our librarians is an expert in research and information retrieval, and we are available to help you at any stage of any assignment for any of your classes. So, if your professor gives you a complex set of instructions and you’re wondering where to start, you can schedule an appointment with a librarian using our LibCal page [ https://vwu.libcal.com/appointments/ ] or come to us during our normal working hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
We can help you decipher what exactly your professor is looking for, and help you access the exact resources and figure out how to make sense of, integrate, and respond to them in an annotated bibliography or research paper.
You might be shocked at how much of a difference meeting with a librarian can make!
Abe Nemon
Research and Instruction Librarian
Henry Clay Hofheimer II Library
