RAP sessions curb research anxieties (rewrite)

In classrooms across campus, instructors are assigning research papers. After the panic settles, students head to Mabee Library to research but often don’t know how to start.

RAP sessions offer students the skills they need to use the large number of on-site and Web-based references. Sessions require no registration and participants can attend as fits their schedule.

“We want students to see the library early in their school career,” said Judy Druse, interim assistant dean of libraries. “We don’t want them to get to their senior year and not know how to begin doing research.”

This is the fourth year that the library has offered the Research Assistance Program, but this semester the library has moved the times to late afternoon and evening. Attendance is still fairly low, but students that have attended indicate they have gained a lot of information that will be useful in their projects.

More sessions will be offered later this semester focusing on APA, MLA and Turabian citation styles. These sessions provide foundational research skills only. Librarians are always available to customized instruction for specific assignments.