Research Education

The Mardigian Library supports student research and information literacy across campus. We provide course-related instruction to help students learn about conducting research and develop information literacy skills. Our librarians collaborate with faculty to develop instruction sessions and materials for classes on topics such as:

• Utilizing the library website to locate print and electronic resources
• Critically evaluating sources
• Finding and using business-specific and general databases
• Developing search strategies and formulating strong research questions
• Creating complete and properly formatted citations
• Conducting company research to prepare for an interview or internship

I am Natalie Hagopian, the instruction librarian supporting students and faculty in the College of Business. I am here to assist with any of the bullet points above, along with other information literacy or research questions you may have. I am always excited to help out with research and answer questions! You can send me an email, stop in during my open hours at the Mitchell Business Communication Lab, or drop by the Library Research Center at the Mardigian Library.

I am available to support faculty research, publishing, and teaching initiatives. Possible collaborations include:

• Offering in-class instruction on research tools and strategies tailored to class assignments
• Creating customized video tutorials, course guides, and tip sheets and embedding them in Canvas courses
• Developing scaffolded assignments to guide students through the research process
• Keeping faculty informed on new library acquisitions and collaborating on purchases of new books and resources
• Giving faculty the opportunity to give feedback on trial databases
• Advising on implementing citation management tools for research

Developing strong research and information literacy skills helps students thrive academically and become strong problem solvers and critical thinkers. Students with strong research skills will:

• Use higher quality resources on their projects and papers
• Engage more deeply with the existing literature on the topics they are studying
• Be aware of the range of support available for them through the library
• Gain confidence in their research skills
• Become more efficient researchers
• Understand the importance of background research and citation in the research process