McQuade Instruction/Liaison Librarians are presenting this poster at the 2015 ACRL/NEC Annual Conference entitled "Spacing Out With the Library: An Exploration of Collaboration Across the Physical, Virtual, & Those Places in Between."

Are reference services responding to changes in students’ research habits and behaviors? This poster describes Merrimack College's Research Center, a place where a team of librarians provide flexible, convenient, and personalized research assistance to students.  

Although reference has gone high-tech, students seeking high-touch reference assistance still travel to a destination -- whether it’s a reference desk, a librarian’s office, a reference room, or a center.  Thus, libraries are challenged to design reference spaces in which librarians are visible to students and are well-positioned to partner with students to engage in active research, from quick “show and go” questions to more in-depth reference consultations. This poster discusses how and why McQuade Library at Merrimack College embraced a Research Center model that creates a positive reference user experience for students, and places collaboration – both among librarians and with students-- at its core. McQuade's Research Center facilitates a team of librarians successfully serving a variety of student learners in an appealing and comfortable environment. This poster describes how the Research Center is staffed, the types of research consultations happening within the center, and visually depicts the layout of the center. It also includes reference and usage statistics and student feedback proving that if you build it, students will come.

Lyena Chavez, Head of Instruction and Outreach
CJ Wong, Instruction/Liaison Librarian
Elizabeth Sarkodie-Mensah, Instruction/Liaison Librarian
Michaela Keating, Instruction/Liaison Librarian

*** Below is a 5 minute presentation of this poster for anyone who didn't get a chance to stop by during the session.

To hear Lyena describe the poster, click here.