Library Orientation: the first years cometh

The Library's enthusiasm for Orientation knows no bounds. In 2010 we even got into fancy dress.

Last year during Library Orientation we met 2590 First Year students from many different schools and subjects.

52 Library staff provided tours and training, demonstrating our commitment and interest in our new students.

This September we aim to further increase our efforts:

• we will be participating in the University Orientation week programme providing an introduction to the Library through tours and presentations.  
• we will again be offering “embedded” training sessions to schools where first year students are brought into the Library during lecture /tutorial times for specific subject sessions.

We hope both elements work positively together to allow us reach as broad a range of students as possible and provide them the best possible start to their college life.

Embedded training, in particular always increases participation and engagement by students. It also allows us to provide distinctive subject training to groups of students which makes it more relevant to their needs.

What do Students Learn from Library Orientation?

Last year the students were asked what the top tip was that they learned during the session.  This question served to give some indication of their learning, but also to remind them of the top tips we wanted them to take away from the session:

Always sign in when searching to get full results.	531	40%
There is a subject team who can give me expert help finding information in my subject area.	332	25%
Renew or return books on time to avoid fines.	216	16%
Library staff are always happy to help with any query.	187	14%
Other (of which 30 respondents mentioned Information about databases generally or specific databases)	60	5%

Further Information

So if you want your students to avail of our Library Orientation training contact your relevant subject librarian. Also take a look at our Training page to get a flavour of what we offer. Finally our Introduction to the Library Video below provides an quick overview of our services.