![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/kowall.png\")
Jacob:<\/strong> I have just recently begun my studies in library science and am in my first semester of studies at Simmons University. Earlier this semester at Simmons, I told an advisor about my position at O\u2019Neill Library. My advisor noted that evening shifts were a rite of passage in the library community, and he recommended that I make an effort to record and reflect on my experiences. So far, I have had many opportunities to help both undergraduate and graduate-level students to make better use of the many resources available at O\u2019Neill. Having studied history at the undergraduate level, I have most enjoyed helping students sharpen their skills in the craft of historical research. My colleagues and I have worked to help students focus their research questions and identify suitable primary sources for their papers. Working on the evening reference team has also offered me the chance to learn from the students of Boston College. Every time I staff the reference desk I get to help students find resources on a wide range of subjects that I\u2019ve never had the chance to personally study \u2013 medicine, sociology, business. My experiences in the library have given me a glimpse of much larger aspects of Boston College. I\u2019ve recognized that this university provides an excellent environment for enabling students, staff, and faculty to learn from and serve one another, and I am glad to be a part of this community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rina here!<\/strong> I will be getting my degree in May (almost there seniors!). I am originally from Virginia and only moved to the Boston area recently. Initially I did not like living here, but working at Boston College has been so much fun that I\u2019ve learned to love my new home. I had no idea what I wanted to do after I got my degree or where I wanted to work, and I think we\u2019ve all been there at one point or another. But now I\u2019ve realized that I want to continue working in higher education libraries. The work I do at Boston College, even just as a student, has been so enjoyable and I\u2019ve learned so much both from my coworkers and from the questions I help answer at the desk. As someone who specializes in historical research, I had to learn the hard way that scientific research, business research, and basically all other types of research are completely different. As such, it is important to approach each search differently and to know which databases are useful for each type of research. While I\u2019ve learned all of this and other theories in class, it really sinks in when someone comes to the desk and asks me how to find something I\u2019d never even thought to find before. Life at the desk is about learning something new, and in the evenings it\u2019s about helping students who started late get help even though the rest of the staff is already gone for the day. In the end, I\u2019m overjoyed to be able to help confused or struggling students realize that things are not as hard as they seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bridgett:<\/strong> I think my favorite interactions with students are the first-year writing papers. Students will come up with an amazing, sometimes even too-timely topic that they are really excited about (everything from racism to comic books to waterfront erosion in Massachusetts) and then quietly, and anxiously say–after all they\u2019ve never done this before and what if they can\u2019t and that means they\u2019re Not Cut Out For College? And now they\u2019re Bothering A Librarian, which every pop culture reference to libraries says is not good, and they\u2019ve also bared their soul through a research topic to a stranger–\u201cso I need to find some\u201d (there’s usually a beat here to remember the word) \u201cpeer-reviewed<\/em> sources.\u201d Of course I\u2019m kinda panicking too–because where do I even start with that–after all, I was an English major so my go-to, MLA Bibliography, is a very specific database that does not cover socio-political issues, or really much of anything that isn\u2019t book related. But we (sometimes quickly and sometimes eventually) find something (thank you Research Guides<\/a>) or at least a place to start, which is relieving for both of us. But really, our interactions are so unique and varied–everything from \u201cwhere\u2019s the closest microwave?\u201d to \u201cthis whole row of computers just lost power!\u201d to \u201cHey it\u2019s been awhile since I was an undergrad, can you refresh my memory on how this research stuff works?\u201d to \u201cI\u2019ve never used a library before–help!\u201d that it\u2019s really hard to describe them all together or to have expectations on what your workday will look like!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you may have noticed we all love learning something new, so come by for a chat on your way home one day. Even if you don\u2019t have a question for us, feel free to stop by the desk and just say hi! Meet O’Neill Library’s three Reference Assistants, Jacob, Rina, and Bridgett. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"series":[],"coauthors":[84,86,87],"class_list":["post-1044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1044"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1044\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Photo:](\"https:\/\/library.bc.edu\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/izzi.png\")
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"