Great to have your understanding Debbie! I think that’s right – students like us just know that we need help, especially in the beginning, and I don’t think that mature age students are alone in this. Frank Menchaca mentions this idea specifically in Harriet Verma’s article and his comment was the starting point for my reflection. It hit a nerve with me and I immediately knew that I wanted to write a point of view reflection about how lost students can feel in this age of information overload. Having librarians on hand who can help seems so important, and reference librarians are the first port of call for many of us. I also want to feel that I have learned something about finding information for myself, as well as having an answer found for me – perhaps not everyone feels that way. With reference work expanding in nature however I think the comment that librarians need to find ways of working smarter rather than harder rings true.
