As anyone who has taken a liberal arts course or completed their general education requirements should know: scholarly research can be a bit of a headache.
Finding relevant sources, making sure they are trustworthy and tying them all together is often frustrating and an annoying hassle in our online, information-heavy world.
But through this haze of uncertainty and overwhelming information, a band of heroes emerges to save the wary student: the University of Minnesota libraries.
I don’t think we truly understand or appreciate the ridiculous amount of knowledge we have access to through the library system with just a simple search.
While the compiled list is partially outdated due to some subscription cancellations, the libraries provide more than 1,000 databases, journals and other resources that students can use for their research needs.
From journal articles and papers to news stories and movies, the sheer scope of the knowledge we have at our fingertips is astounding, especially considering that scholarly databases aren’t cheap. Individual access to JSTOR starts at around $20 monthly, and that’s just for one database.
University libraries’ undergraduate services specialist Lacie McMillin said students should take advantage of the wide range of books, scholarly articles, magazines and other media available through the libraries before they graduate and lose free access to these expensive materials.
“We pour a lot of resources, including partially student tuition dollars, into providing access to a wealth of information,” McMillin said. “Students at the University will have crazy information privilege for the years they’re attending school here.”
University third-year student Eva Schutz said she uses the databases frequently to find scholarly articles needed for her coursework and can trust the reliability of the sources the library has. She said many students aren’t using them as frequently as they could.
Many students seem to be growing hesitant toward the databases the libraries provide, whether it’s because they are overwhelmed by the amount of information available or because they simply don’t know what they can get through the libraries.
Schutz said she has seen newer students struggle to find scholarly articles or sources through her work as a section leader for the College of Liberal Arts’ first-year course, which helps students prepare for college life.
“We had an assignment where they had to use scholarly sources, and they were like ‘I don’t know where to find that,’” Schutz said. “And I was like, ‘UMN Libraries!’”
This trend away from scholarly resources is also reflected in the growing use of artificial intelligence for assignments and other classwork, which can be dangerous if not handled carefully.
University undergraduate services librarian Kate Peterson said while she understands the appeal of having a convenient list of perfect sources delivered to you with a single AI prompt, it is not a reliable research tool.
“The tricky thing right now, at least, is that AI continues to make up stuff,” Peterson said. “It is trying so hard to give any of us what it thinks that we want, but it’s literally just making up those sources.”
With all of the resources the libraries provide, there is no reason to rely on AI for help with class research. If you are truly lost in the research process or are looking for something specific, library staff can help you navigate the extensive collections and databases the libraries have to offer.
While all of these information sources may seem overwhelming to the average student, there is no need to worry. The libraries also provide access to things like subject research guides and peer research consultants to help students start the research process.
Peterson said the library subject guides help students find specific databases within their course designators so they aren’t overwhelmed by the main library page. These guides also help them to branch out from the databases they used in high school.
“Often, when they come to the University, they’re going to use that same database because they were successful with it, even if here at the University we have 900 other databases they could use,” Peterson said. “So we have a little bit of inertia to get over.”
Having the option to search for specific information in a wide variety of databases can also come in handy if a topic you’re researching isn’t commonly studied.
When specific databases have not had what I was looking for, I have always been able to find the perfect sources in the nick of time through the University’s library search engine.
“Having this breadth of resources, you can really kind of research whatever you want,” McMillin said. “Follow your interests and your passions, there’s going to be a ton of information out there for you to explore.”
We are at the University to learn, and at the end of the day, having reliable sources of information on a huge variety of topics is one of the best ways to accomplish that goal.
Fortunately, we have a team of experts here who have given us easy access to a large portion of human knowledge and who are here to help us utilize this information for our own benefit.
The information provided by the University libraries is worth more than its weight in gold, even if the online resources may not always be the easiest to navigate.
Let’s make use of this valuable resource while we can.
