Building Trust to Relieve Graduate Student Research Anxiety

Abstract

This paper outlines the case studies of two librarians who work closely with graduate students in fine arts programs. Realizing that graduate students can often experience a unique form of research anxiety, both librarians collaborated with faculty to embed themselves into the research methods courses of their programs. Both librarians found that the chance to work one-on-one with graduate students resulted in a reduction of their anxiety, an increase in information literacy skills, and a strengthened partnership between the librarians and the departments.

KEYWORDS:

• collaboration
• embedded librarian
• graduate students
• library anxiety
• library instruction
• research anxiety
• research methods course