Research and Instruction: Summer 2024 Report

Image caption: Chaudhary, K. (n.d.). The Beach Makes Me Happy. From Teachers College Digital Collections.

Introduction

Though the reading rooms of Gottesman Libraries quiet down in the summer, the TC community still has research and information needs to keep up with. The summer gives us here at Gottesman Libraries time to work on bigger projects after the academic year, such as developing new workshops for the fall, updating our digital resources, and creating research literacy modules for students enrolled in Introduction to Organizational Psychology. 

In particular, this summer has given me time to work on my own research in Information Studies– especially in artificial intelligence, critical information literacy, and scholarly publishing. Understanding emerging issues and topics in the field is crucial for providing effective research and instruction here at TC.  I’ve attended events such as the Digital Pedagogy Institute’s annual conference and learned about how instructors in higher education are engaging with generative artificial intelligence and machine learning in the classroom. To stay informed of the latest research trends in the social sciences, I’ve learned more about how scholars and researchers are utilizing AI tools for analysis and organization– and the important issues of privacy, ethics, and critical thinking that arise when using these tools. 

Notable updates:

• TC students now have access to more digital news subscriptions such as the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The Atlantic. Learn more about all-access subscriptions here: https://guides.library.columbia.edu/news 
• A new workshop directory through CUL has been published - get a copy at the Services Desk! 
• You can now see a list of all Gottesman Libraries workshops, past and present, on our website. If there is a workshop you would like to attend but don’t see on the calendar, let us know and we will do our best to program it. 

Research Guides

We have a guide for all academic programs at Teachers College and several general purpose guides that support all areas of scholarship independent of a specific discipline. In these guides, we’ve provided resources such as selections of high-impact journals and scholarly databases to support research at Teachers College. 

We review and update these research guides to incorporate new resources and make sure information is up-to-date. For instance, we’ve added more research databases and other useful resources to our Arts Administration Research Guide. 

Please let us know if there are any useful websites, journals, resources in your field that you think are important and should be added to your program’s research guide! 

Consultations

This summer I provided 50 consultations to students and faculty. I met with new students wanting to orient themselves to the library before the start of the semester, as well as continuing students working on research projects over the summer. In consultations, I support students in whatever way they need research support. This includes setting up reference management software, reviewing both basic skills in database logic as well as more advanced strategies for search effectiveness, and providing strategies for conducting a literature review search. I am always fascinated by the work students at TC are doing. Research topics included: gender in the arts workforce, the Kids Online Safety Act, group therapy for college students, and mental health literacy in the Middle East. 

Workshops

Our workshops are open to all members of the Teachers College community and our affiliate communities. They offer attendees opportunities to develop library research skills through a variety of specialized topics.

During the summer, I provided 16 workshops to 199 attendees (in-person and on Zoom). We continue to offer the workshop series, “Charting Your Path”, which walks students through fundamental skills and strategies in navigating scholarly resources and conducting literature searches. 

You can see a directory of all Gottesman Library workshops on our website. If there is a past workshop you would like to attend, let us know and we will do our best to program it. 

For the Fall semester, we plan to expand the “Elevate Your Research” series to include multiple workshops on using Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots for research. 

Information Sessions

Through our information sessions we offer onsite, virtual, or hybrid instruction to classes on a full range of tools available to them as students at Teachers College. These sessions can be customized based upon the instructor's need to focus on specific topics, issues, or resources.  

During the Summer 2024 semester we conducted an information session to students in the  d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing Education program and to students in the new AEGIS cohort.  

Service Tickets

Library users can use the “Ask a Librarian” button on our website to submit questions for response. We answered 160 questions related to reference, instruction, and our workshops. 

Social Media

The Libraries continue to share our programming and highlight our collections through our social media presence on Instagram. We like to share our book displays, exhibits, events, and services with the Teachers College community. This semester, some things we highlighted were the second floor book display, “Symptoms of Being Human”, the Artivism exhibit in the Offit Gallery, and a recap of our library retreat to the New York Public Library.

Check out our account to see treasures held in Special Collections, stay up to date on our events and offerings. 

Ceiling at the main branch of the NYPL. Image courtesy of Ava Kaplan