““When I was real young I wished that I had a room that I could go into and find all the answers I needed to do well in school. At some point I realized that’s what a library is—a place full of answers or at least ideas to help one formulate answers.”

–Jenny James, IAIA Librarian

SANTA FE –The new IAIA library in the Learning Technology Center is a beautiful and peaceful setting for students to enrich their minds.

“Library use is the key to better grades and better writing. It has helped me with my papers. I know it works,” said Sharon Freemont, librarian aide. Sharon admitted that using the library can be intimidating. What makes it hard, Sharon said, is not knowing how to look for information for a research paper and what to look for in general.

And that is where IAIA librarians Jenny James and Stephanie Owens come in. They are dedicated to helping students use the library resources.

The Road To Discovery

“When I was real young I wished that I had a room that I could go into and find all the answers I needed to do well in school,” said Jenny who has been with IAIA for over seven years.

“At some point I realized that’s what a library is—a place full of answers or at least ideas to help one formulate answers. Sometimes it seems a little tricky to find those ideas, but that is why there are librarians to help one along the road to discovery.”

The library offers research and information instruction for any class taught at IAIA. “We will work with the faculty members and provide instruction customized to the needs of their class,” James said.

Many Services Are Available

The many services that the library has provided include web site evaluation for Museum Studies, and research instruction for English composition as well as instruction on where to find information concerning the Native architectural styles for the Geometry course.

“Any time someone is not able to find information, we invite him or her to ask. That is why we are here,” James said.

Owens points students to Athena: “The school’s library catalog is still the most valuable tool for an IAIA student conducting research. Athena is not only great because students can access materials by author, title, or topic, but can also peruse subject-heading to get additional information for their topics.”

For example, a student writing a paper on Joy Harjo conducts an author search, and finds seven records for her. By looking at the subject-heading field for those seven records, the student gets additional resource ideas on her topic. One such heading is American poetry--Indian authors. Another useful subject heading is Indian of North America--Poetry. And a third, Indian women--United States--Poetry. Perhaps the student would like to compare Joy Harjo’s poetry with another Native American poet or make it even more specific by focusing on another Native American female poet.

When Is A Library Not Useful?

The library also has print sources that can help students in their research. “We have six rows of reference materials. These reference materials range from your basic Encyclopedia Britannica to very specialized art and writing directories. Reference materials are wonderful starting points for students without a clear topic or for students looking for additional information on their topic.” said Owens.

“To get at the importance of library, it might be more useful to ask when has a library not been useful,” Owens said. “One would be hard pressed to find an answer then. I used libraries and its contents as a means to escape reality, or to research topics for class assignments, to fix a clogged sink at home, to brush up on a foreign language or travel, to meet with others to finish assignments, to watch movies for entertainment, to unearth the mysteries of ancient religion.”

The Internet Is Not The Only Research Tool

On the day Sharon was interviewed, no students were in the library. Asked if it had anything to do with the Internet being down, she said, “Everything.” When asked how much effect, she said, “Devastating,” and pointed to the empty library.

“The way to get students to use the other resources beside the Internet was to tell them to use the reference books set aside by their professors and the reference/research section of the library books. And especially asking for help from the librarians was a sure way to be able to get help on research papers for classes. It has helped me with my research papers and overall knowledge of many topics,” Sharon said.

Sharon advises, “Learn to love reading. If not love, at least learn to like it. Also, the more you use the library, the more at home you begin to feel because you begin to be more knowledgeable about library use.”

“To get at the importance of library, it might be more useful to ask when has a library not been useful. One would be hard pressed to find an answer then."

-Stephanie Owens, IAIA Librarian

Copyright © IAIA CHRONICLE 2004