Why don`t students ask librarians for help?

I am currently reading up on some things connected to a project that I just started. I have had a book called “College libraries and student culture: what we now know” on my reading list for months, and so far it has been very interesting.

I remember reading in Head and Eisenberg (2010)`s study that students Google, ask their professors and peers, friends – and even family members before asking librarians for help with their studies. Just now I came across the same thing in Miller and Murillo (2012)`s chapter in the book I mentioned.

Miller and Murillo (2012) suggest some reasons why this happens. Possible reasons for students not seeking help from librarians include:

• They don`t know what we do, and therefore do not think that they can ask questions regarding academic writing. If they ask librarians about anything, it is usually about the whereabouts of a physical book. (Depressing stuff..)
• Some have had bad experiences with librarians, and they are saying that librarians appear little approachable and helpful.
• Librarians use words that patrons do not understand, like “circulation desk” and “reference desk”.
• Students suffer from “library anxiety”, a feeling of nervousness or of being “lost” in the library.
• Students and staff feel that librarians often give a lot more information than they needed, and that they feel overwhelmed by it.

I find this very useful. How should we work to reduce “library anxiety” for our patrons? What could I do to make the experience easier to the students? What can I do to be more approachable? How can make the students more aware of what we can do for them?

I do not have the answer to all of these problems, but I think maybe we should rethink our desks (they are too big, and we are harder to approach behind them), our web presence needs to be even more thought-through and we need to be more “plain-spoken”. I personally need to stop giving the students “all the options” when all they asked for was a solution to a simple problem, and maybe we could all do a better job at marketing what it is that librarians really do. We have some work to do here..

 

Literature:

Duke, L. M. and A. D. Asher (eds.)(2012) College libraries and student culture: what we now know. Chicago: American Library Association

Head, A. J. og M. B. Eisenberg (2010) Truth be told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age. Washington: The Information School, University of Washington.

Miller, S. og N. Murillo (2012) Why don`t students ask librarians for  help?: Undergraduate help-seeking behavior in three academic libraries. In: Duke, L. M. og A. D. Asher (eds.),  College libraries and student culture: What we now know. Chicago: American Library Association, p. 49-70.