The Undergraduate Libraries Research Fellowship: Centering Student Scholarship

Written by Jennifer Schnabel, English Librarian at The Ohio State University

On Monday, October 26 at 2:30 p.m., University Libraries will host our annual Undergraduate Library Research Symposium. This year’s event will be virtual, but the celebratory spirit will remain as we highlight research conducted by six students over the summer. This year’s projects include a digital exhibit on anti-sexual violence activism (Mia Carello, Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies); an oral history archive focused on women faculty and staff at OSU Lima (Hannah Stoll, English); an analysis of the enemies to lovers trope appearing in popular novels (Katherine Watson, English); a study of female refugees’ experiences in central Ohio (Dani Wollerman, International Studies); a repository of readings of poetry written by undergraduate students (June Beavers, Creative Writing); and a literature review comparing Hellenic systems of thought and those of indigenous populations (Shawn Walls, Classics/Political Science). All are welcome to attend the symposium. To register, please click here.

The Undergraduate Research Library Fellowship (ULRF) is a partnership between OSU Libraries and the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry. Students from across disciplines are invited to contact a mentor from the Libraries and discuss a potential summer research project, the proposal writing process, and their individual academic and professional goals. Submissions are reviewed by the Teaching and Learning Committee and awarded based on the project’s feasibility and funding availability.

As a subject librarian at a large research institution, it is often difficult for me to get to know individual students and encourage their research interests beyond a group instruction session or one 45-minute consultation. The fellowship program has given me the opportunity to advise an undergraduate scholar throughout the research lifecycle, from developing a research proposal to creating a presentation. I have mentored four students since I joined the OSU Libraries in 2015, and all have successfully completed projects that they have presented in the library and at research forums and festivals on campus.

As part of building my faculty dossier, I am required to report on ways I have impacted student success. However, I am the one who has benefitted the most from serving as a mentor in this program. I have been inspired and energized by the students before, during, and even after the fellowship period, when I have had the privilege of supervising an honors thesis and an independent study, write recommendation letters for graduate school, and provide references on job applications. I admire their creativity and curiosity when they propose projects, their eagerness to explore primary source material and the existing scholarship on the topic, their interest in learning new research tools and methods, and their willingness to revise original ideas as their research skills evolve and discoveries increase over the ten weeks. I often think about their enthusiasm and insightful reflections on the research process when I return to my own projects.

The 2020 fellowship students will be especially remembered for their flexibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several fellows had to rethink their projects to accommodate a remote working environment and adapt their timelines to changes in summer schedules. For example, Katherine Watson’s initial plan was to consult popular romance literature in the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library and the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Instead, she focused on using digital research methods and tools to create a StoryMap that illustrates how Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy fell in love from a distance in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Dani Wollerman planned to conduct face-to-face interviews with area refugees for her project; she quickly revised her methodology in response to limitations from the pandemic, and the results of her research are presented here. Other students made similar adjustments to their proposed projects.

The fellows were also able to meet one another and share their research experiences. Instead of having an in-person session, we hosted an informal meeting on Zoom midway through the fellowship period. They also submitted a progress report and a final report to Craig Gibson, the URLF program organizer. The symposium on October 26 is an opportunity for the fellows to showcase their projects to the public and marks the end of a successful and unusual fellowship cycle. The event will be the highlight of my semester, and I know my colleagues feel the same way.

 

Librarians, what have you learned from mentoring undergraduate students? Please write your answers below in the comment section.