EIU Booth Library

Reference department has a new name: RES

Posted on August 15th, 2019

The Booth Library reference department has some exciting news — they’ve changed their name to better match their mission! The department is now called Research, Engagement and Scholarship, or RES

EIU students, faculty and staff are familiar with our reference department. They are the librarians and staff at the Research Help desk on the main floor. They help you find resources for your papers. They guide you through library website and direct you to the best research for your topic. They answer your chat questions and emails. They visit your classes and lead instruction sessions here in the library.

All of these services will continue with the new name. But our librarians felt that Research, Engagement and Scholarship better reflects changes in academic librarianship, and the way students conduct research. In contrast to the days when reference librarians acted as mediators between students and information resources, the majority of information queries are accomplished online directly by the student. Librarians today focus on facilitating access to these resources, teach information literacy and collaborate with faculty to promote student success. The terms “Research, Engagement, Scholarship,” are more in line with our academic mission.

Research: More than finding answers for questions, we support students in navigating the information resources, formulating inquiries into knowledge and helping them think critically about what they find.

Engagement: We have always considered engagement with our users to be an essential role. “Engagement” communicates an active interest in outreach and involvement with our students and in the curriculum.

Scholarship: By using this term we honor the academic work our students do. Scholarship tells faculty that we serve their needs and seek to collaborate in their teaching, research and creative activity. Scholarship also suggests a level of teaching that goes beyond the skills training aspect that may be attached to the term instruction.

We look forward to serving you this semester! Please get in touch with us if you have questions about this mission or how we can help you succeed. Contact Steve Brantley, head of RES, at 581-7542 or jsbrantley at eiu dot edu.