While Boston University subscribes to hundreds of academic databases for students to use for any research they have to do, students said they don’t use these subscription services with frequency in completing research for class.
While BU continually expands its online database catalogue, said Sarah Struble, a bibliographer who works at the research desk of Mugar Library, however many students use other Internet sources when conducting research.
Struble said that while independent Internet research can be effective, research librarians at Mugar are equipped to help students in using BU’s subscription databases in conducting more effective, complete research.
“The reality is there is so much information out there that you need libraries to analyze and organize it,” Struble said. “Libraries and librarians work to help students sort through the information and use the things that have been editorially controlled.”
While freshman writing classes require research through databases, many students prefer to use other sources for research.
“I used to use BU’s databases more,” said School of Education sophomore Amanda Cavagnero. “Now I mostly use Google Scholar or Google Books, which tend to be more useful for the papers I need to write in SED.”
Margaret Walkup, a junior in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said few of her classes require her to use Mugar’s database catalog.
“I used to use BU’s online databases more in my freshman writing classes and when I had more research papers to do,” said Walkup. “In SAR, I do not have as many research papers to write so I do not find the databases very useful.”
While not every student takes advantage of Mugar’s database archive, Struble said libraries are an integral part of a research university.
“It is essential to continue having these online databases, especially as BU is a research university, because we need to maintain the depth of the information available to students.”
Struble said that while online search engines such as Google can prove useful in completing research for class, databases provide a more solid, reliable source for research papers.
“You cannot look everything up on Google,” Struble said. “Online databases are legitimate [because] they have copyrights and have passed through some type of publisher’s approval.”
Some students said that with more practice using the databases, they might alter their research methods to include the library’s resources.
“I have found these online databases to be quite useful for many of the papers I have written here,” said College of Arts and Sciences freshman David LeHouillier . “A large percentage of students at BU do not realize that all these resources exist.”
“As much as I use BU’s databases, I still tend to use databases I used in high school that I am more familiar with,” Cavagnero said. “Perhaps, more of the population here would use them if they knew they existed. The libraries should advertise them more and teach new students to use them.”
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