Meeting graduate student needs: an exploration of disciplinary differences

Abstract

To better engage our graduate students, we asked them to describe their research strategy and challenges, helpful research support services, and their preferred venue for learning research skills. We conducted a thematic analysis and found that participants’ top reported research strategies included “Research Topic Development” and “Literature Review,” while their challenges cited “Finding and Evaluating Information” and “Access Issues.” The students mentioned “Library Databases” most frequently as helpful and websites were their most preferred learning venue. We found evidence that discipline-specific library instruction may be more relevant than large, in-person orientations and discovered a concerning trend of situational challenges.