Kettering College Librarians Navigate Students Toward Success
When we go into a library, we most likely take the services there for granted. We search for materials, review them, and check them out without much thought as to how the items got there or how easily we found them. Our skilled librarians, Pam Stevens, MLIS, and Kathy Salgado, MLS, know exactly what needs to happen behind the scenes to make sure a library is well organized with current resources and management systems. They are experts in library sciences and research and are eager to help anyone who comes into our library, which we call the Learning Commons.
These powerhouse librarians might work in the quiet, but their brains are busy, staying current on up-to-date materials and always searching for resources that offer a diverse range of support to our campus. Library sciences and learning are not just their interest—it’s what lights them up with purpose. These are exactly the librarians we want to help navigate our students toward success.
Pam Stevens has several responsibilities, one of which is retrieving catalog records for our library management system, and if a record doesn’t exist, she creates one. The next time you’re searching the library’s catalog, know that Pam is one of the masterminds who has provided the catalog records to ensure you’ll uncover what you’re searching for.
“Sometimes students say they had no idea something existed.”
-Pam Stevens, MLIS
She is also the liaison librarian for our healthcare programs and religion department, which entails researching and acquiring materials that support their curriculum. Pam not only researches the most current, relevant materials, but she also negotiates with the producers of those items to work out the contracts, so we can rightfully use the materials without issues.
Kathy Salgado is our reference and research expert. When students need to find sources for a topic, she helps them and shows them steps of the research process. She teaches these information literacy skills as an embedded librarian in English and HCSC classes where she walks students through the process of first finding sources but also discerning if they are appropriate and credible. She is also the acquisitions librarian for humanities, arts, and sciences, which means she researches and purchases materials for instruction.
“We want to help students to be successful. We give them tips on how to start and conduct their searches.”
-Kathy Salgado, MLS
Kathy manages the interlibrary loan services. Students may request items through the OhioLINK catalog, a statewide academic library consortium. This gives us shared access to resources in any participating library in Ohio, with materials shipped directly to us if our own library does not have it. Kathy points out that students do not take advantage of this priceless gem as much as they should, and she would be happy to help any students who are interested in using it. She can also request desired materials from libraries even outside OhioLINK. Faculty or students simply send her a citation for the items they need and she does the digging for them.
Kathy and Pam are pleased to see a heavy use of our online database of electronic journal articles. These are accessible from anywhere, so students can work on projects anytime from any location. It has proven to be a helpful research tool for students who are juggling school, work, and family and can’t always physically get to the library.
Although research is a key component for students, these librarians are also interested in sparking a love of learning. Part of this is providing supplemental resources for courses that are simply meant to give context and background to a topic. Sometimes if students can focus on things that give historical perspective to a lesson, they can be more immersed in it, and our librarians know just how to create this engagement.
Pam is the content manager for the Leisure Cove at the front of the Learning Commons, a collection of books and movies meant for anyone to check out. She has carefully curated materials to support our interest in spiritual growth, healthcare industry trends, and materials to simply enrich the lives of students, faculty, and staff.
Both librarians stress the fact that they are there to help.
“We love helping students. That’s why we’re here.”
They encourage students to explore the Learning Commons’ website to understand the wide range of databases and resources available to them without even leaving home. They emphasize the research tutorials, APA citation guides, and the E-search database as being especially helpful.
Pam and Kathy agree there is nothing worse for a student than spending an hour being frustrated and upset because they have no idea where to start with a project. When students ask for help, Pam and Kathy can almost always steer them in the right direction. What’s more important—they teach students how to conduct research and take advantage of all our resources, so they can confidently do it in the future for themselves.
Kathy reminds students the library is an enjoyable place—not just a place to dread going to for research. Both our librarians have the education, experience, and problem-solving skills to help any student or faculty find their way with a project, paper, or question. Whether someone has a very specific idea or a general idea with an unsure focus, our librarians are equipped to assist curious minds (or even grumpy minds that dread doing research).
The librarians remind students the downstairs student area is “not a separate land from upstairs” where the main library is. Their sole purpose is to set students up for success, so they welcome everyone to come see how our Learning Commons can help enhance their projects and learning.
Once students understand what is offered at the Learning Commons, they can then familiarize themselves with the tools and finally make the research process comfortable instead of intimidating. The first step to uncovering helpful resources starts with first utilizing the most valuable resources in the Learning Commons –our librarians—for help turning questions into answers.
About Kettering College
Kettering College is a fully accredited, coeducational college that specializes in health science education. A division of Kettering Health, the College is located on the Kettering Health Main campus in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, and is chartered by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Kettering College offers an Occupational Therapy Doctoral program, a Master of Physician Assistant, Bachelor and Associate of Science degrees, and certificate programs.
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