Driven by LMU’s 2021–26 Strategic Plan, we have increased the level of support we offer to graduate students and focused more attention on the ways in which we connect those students to the library’s services and collections. As the university works to strengthen and expand its graduate and professional education offerings, we have responded in kind by creating additional research guides, developing new outreach and orientation programs, and hosting workshops specifically with graduate students in mind.
For example, to pilot test a new graduate student orientation program, we collaborated with faculty in the Department of Theological Studies. We developed a three-part orientation program that included a virtual welcome; an in-person meet-and- greet that included a library tour; and an opportunity to view rare religious items from our archives and special collections, and an in-depth library instruction session.
These customized tours and interactive classes, which we also offered to faculty in SFTV, Yoga Studies, and Marital and Family Therapy, helped students feel more connected and informed about library resources and services. As one student noted, “I love how accessible our library is. Thank you for providing even more insight into this valuable resource for us.” In the coming year, we plan to develop additional touchpoints with other graduate programs and continue adapting the model to meet the diverse needs of new students.
Considering the research needs of graduate students — especially those writing theses and dissertations — we hosted two sessions of our annual “Citations in the Wild: Wrangling Your Citations with Zotero” workshop. This virtual program introduced students to Zotero, a platform for organizing research articles and citations: a perfect tool for helping graduate students create and organize complex bibliographies.
In addition to synchronous orientations, we created asynchronous tools to support graduate student success. Our online subject research guides (“LibGuides”) provide students with a helpful list of the best resources for any given subject. For graduate students in the College of Business Administration specifically, we created new LibGuides for the following programs: Master of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Business Analytics, Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, Master of Science in Management, and Master of Science in Taxation.
Our innovative and focused approach to graduate and professional education will enhance the university’s overall academic quality and extend our impact on our students’ academic success.