USC Libraries pilot new research tool system

Extended hours, an updated frequently asked questions section, contact information for faculty members and a new Chatbot aim to make research less difficult for students, especially those with tight schedules. 

Email and the Chatbot will be available 24 hours a day, while Live Chat with staff members and librarians will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, and noon to 4 p.m. on Fridays. 

Melissa Miller, the head of the Hoose Library of Philosophy, is part of the team working on this project. She hopes that it will make students more aware that USC employees are available as resources. 

“The main goal is to try to provide more access to strategic research collaborations for students, faculty and staff,” Miller said. 

USC community members can schedule appointments for one-on-one research consultations and other forms of assistance with subject librarians, whose contact information is available through research guides on the library’s website. Meetings can take place through Zoom, phone call or email. 

Many faculty librarians at USC also teach courses at the University and are knowledgeable in a variety of subject areas. They also have field experience and expertise surrounding the academic research process, which they are willing to share with students.

“We’re happy to teach research skills like finding, evaluating and critically analyzing resources and such for research papers or projects, and are happy to be partners in that process,” Miller said. 

Some of these resources, such as emails and FAQs, have been available in the library system for a while. They’ve now been updated from previous versions in an attempt to increase use. Miller said the chief objective of this effort is to update and increase accessibility to these tools. 

“We really want to stress that the virtual reference pilot program is increasing availability because you don’t just have to do it in person,” Miller said. 

Isabel Chavero, a sophomore majoring in political science, said she will use these new tools for her research. It can be relatively easy, she said, to look for information on specific topics through the libraries’ research databases, but it can also be overwhelming due to the vast amount of information there is to navigate. 

Chavero said she believes the new tools, such as Live Chat, will help in encouraging students to use what the library has to offer. 

“I think a lot of students don’t even know that they’re able to do pretty profound research with the content that USC Libraries has,” Chavero said. 

Christophe Merriam, a freshman majoring in business of cinematic arts, tried out some of the new research tools for one of his classes. He attended workshops in Leavey Library led by instructors who conducted their own research while also working at the library. He used the library to gather information and review sources for a final project about labor exploitation in Bangladesh. He said the workshops were quite helpful, as many of his professors require research for coursework but provide limited guidance on how to obtain it. 

Merriam said he didn’t know that the libraries offered these tools and had previously just used Google to find needed information. 

“[The instructors] told us what all the online resources were and, to be honest, I didn’t know any of them at all before,” Merriam said. 

Merriam said the one thing that he wished was different during his research processes was more time slot availability. Most slots he saw were mid-day, which is when he has the bulk of his classes. Merriam said he believes the 24-hour Chatbot will be helpful for issues like this. 

“If it was late at night and I was struggling to do research or I had a deadline coming up, I could see that being very valuable,” Merriam said. 

The team of librarians working on this project plans to continue improving the library’s research aids based on analysis of how the current tools work. Right now, the main focus is increasing virtual access to these aids, Miller said. 

The new tools can be accessed by visiting the online USC Libraries page. From here, the “Connect with the Libraries” page can direct users to Live Chat, ChatBot, an email form and contact information for subject librarians to help with research in specific fields.