Librarians are available for one-on-one research consults with undergraduates. In this photo, Adam Siegel talks with 2018 Lang Prize winner Grant Rosinko.
Library to Create New Departments Focused on Researcher and Student Support
In anticipation of a Fall Quarter 2019 launch, the library is preparing to introduce two new departments — Researcher Services and Student Services — that will take the place of our current Research Support Services department. The goal of the restructure is to continue to provide excellent research support while increasing the library’s support for undergraduate education across disciplines and at scale — strengthening our focus on two of the top priorities highlighted in the UC Davis Strategic Plan.
The reorganization will also give us an opportunity to develop new services to meet the campus’ changing needs and to reach a greater number of students and researchers, including traditionally underserved populations, with services we already offer.
“By having each department focus explicitly on the needs of specific user groups, our librarians will be able to work as a team to develop scalable services and solutions to meet the needs of students, instructors and researchers across campus,” said Beth Callahan, the library’s associate university librarian for research and learning, who is overseeing the transition. “For example, by increasing our efficiency and deepening our expertise in research-based teaching practices, we’ll be able to reach many more classes — and many more students — with instruction in library research skills.”
To meet the research and instructional needs of all campus academic units, the library balanced expertise in humanities, social science and STEM fields across the two new departments. To ensure that the library continues to provide comprehensive and holistic disciplinary support, librarians will hold interdepartmental, discipline-focused meetings regularly, as well.
Over the coming months, the library will invite user input on how we can improve and expand our research and student support. The UC Davis Library Survey, which is open for responses until May 15, is the first of those opportunities for input. The heads of the new departments, for which recruitments are now underway, will continue to explore new possibilities together with our library staff and users.
Learn more
To learn more, read our FAQ or contact Beth Callahan, associate university librarian for research and learning, at bacallahan@ucdavis.edu, with questions.
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