Grad students: Mark your calendars.
Tomorrow you can meet the research librarians who will help you with your thesis over a cup of coffee in Zimmerman Library.
University Libraries is hosting the event so students can get familiar with the resources available for their projects and meet other graduate students looking to get a jump-start on research.
Jabez John, a graduate in counseling, said this will be a good opportunity for students to get information that is often hard to find.
"A lot of grad students don't know where to start, especially if they are not from UNM," John said.
Graduate students spend a lot of time doing research, and it's good for them to build relationships with their research librarians early on, John said.
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About 50 students attended when University Libraries hosted the event last year, said Dena Kinney, director of the Fine Arts & Design Library.
Kinney helped organize the event and said librarians are hoping for at least as many students to come this year to work on improving their relationship.
"We want to meet grad students and find out what they need and how the libraries can be more accommodating," she said.
Kinney said librarians will also be available to assist students with their research on a regular basis.
Jen Tichy, a biology graduate student, said it was helpful for her to meet her department's librarian and keep a dialogue going.
"She sends us updates on everything and makes sure we are all in the loop," she said.
Tichy was able to meet her librarian during graduate student orientation, where she learned how to get journal articles and Libros catalogs.
Tichy said several of the library's resources have been useful to her and that the librarians have provided invaluable services, too.
"They will photocopy journal articles for you and turn them into PDFs, then e-mail them to you," she said.
The coffee hour tomorrow is designed to offer a break to students, provide information about research resources and introduce new services, Kinney said. One of the resources that will be presented tomorrow is how to do a thesis or dissertation electronically.
"This is a trial year for electronic thesis and dissertation, but next year it will be mandatory," she said.
Kinney said Martha Bedard, dean of University Libraries, will welcome students to the event with a short speech. Graduate fellowship librarians will then talk about which library resources have been most useful for them.
After that, each department's research librarian will be available for one-on-one introductions and questions.
Kinney said she wants the event to help graduate students get more comfortable at UNM.
"I hope this benefits students, because researching builds up so quickly, and knowing where to go helps," she said.
Spring coffee for graduate students
Thursday, 3-4 p.m.
Willard Room of Zimmerman Library
