Research is abstract. Research is an odyssey. Research is an emotional continuum.
“This difference suggests that librarians who help graduate students with their research should focus less on teaching where to click in databases,” states an article slated for the November 2024 issue of College and Research Libraries. “Instead, librarians need to acknowledge the complexity of the entire research process, take time to help the student process where they are on the journey and validate the inevitable emotions involved with that experience.”
Meanwhile, it suggests that “librarians should also provide structure to graduate students so they have at least a sense of how to build a map of their research journey. Additionally, if librarians bring themselves fully into interactions with graduate students, they may serve as empowering social support. The help provided by librarians will, therefore, in part, need to transcend disciplinary boundaries.”
Among the three authors of “Along for the Journey: Graduate Student Perceptions of Research” is Alissa Droog, assistant professor and Education and Social Sciences librarian at NIU’s Founders Memorial Library.
Droog, who serves the College of Education, helped to develop the idea from a conference presentation she attended regarding visual research methods.
“I was fascinated because I’ve been doing a drawing activity in my classes for a while,” says Droog, who executed the study with Frances Brady from Adler University (Chicago) and Kari D. Weaver from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada).
“We have students draw what research is to them, and then we have them reflect on what emotions are in that drawing,” she adds. “The reason we have them draw is because the parts of our brain that process images are older and closer to our emotions than are the parts of our brain that process words on pages.”
Nineteen graduate students from the United States and Canada – 11 pursuing their master’s degrees and eight working toward doctorates at the three campuses represented by the investigators – participated in the inquiry.
Programs of the graduate students included anthropology, biology, counseling, education, engineering, kinesiology, policy administration, psychology and public health.
Questions focused on how the students conceptualize research, including how they see themselves as researchers, how they perceive research is conducted, what they consider the point of research and what emotions or elements of the affective domain they associate with research.
Students were asked to “draw what research is to you” during the Zoom interviews and given 10 minutes to finish that task; they then were asked to explain their drawings and their emotions about them.
Descriptions included:
- A sphere of light that sends out waves to light up other bulbs.
- A rolling ball.
- A series of cabinets to open.
- Circles within circles.
- Digging in the desert with paintbrushes.
- A game of baby steps.
- A path that is not always smooth.
- Planting a tree that you will never sit in its shade.
- Panning for gold.
- A big mess I have to clean up.
- Jumping off a diving board into information.
- A bobsled or roller coaster.
- A puzzle.
- A treasure hunt.
“The reality is that graduate students have many different things that they’re coming with to their research, and their emotions are heavily involved in that process. In the library world, that’s not often what we do, but there has been a movement toward understanding and a more holistic approach,” Droog says.
“For us, this study really cemented the fact that when I’m working with a student one on one, it’s not about, ‘Where do you click?’ and ‘What do you do next?’ – it’s about trying to understand where they’re at, where they’re coming from, where they’re going and how they’re feeling about the process.”
Research already shows that “we bring our whole selves to school,” she adds, “and that most students are bringing their whole selves and, often, their identities into the research questions they’re asking. They’re often asking questions that are heavily personal.”
Droog is quick to clarify that she’s not a therapist.
“But now I ask at the beginning and the end of most meetings with students: ‘How are you feeling about your research today?’ ” she says. “Normally, they’ll share a bunch of anxiety. We’ll work through some things. Some of it will be where-to-click stuff, yes, but some of it is larger, like, ‘OK, why did you pick this topic? Knowing why might help you narrow in.’ ”
Academic librarians who adjust their practice accordingly should find that students are grateful, Droog says.
“I think it changes what we do. I think it changes the type of things we offer. It makes us more approachable, it makes what we’re doing more relevant to students and, generally, they feel a lot better because you’ve just taken the time with them,” she says. “It’s the acknowledgment and the normalizing that of, ‘Yeah, this is heavy. This is hard. It’s stressful. It’s overwhelming – and that’s OK.’ I think it changes things for them. ‘OK, I’m feeling this and I know that’s normal, and I know there are supports available.’ ”
