The Graduate Services Discussion Group (GSDG) of ACRL/NY is a forum for librarians who work with graduate student populations to discuss how to customize and do outreach to graduate students in all disciplines. Join co-chairs Michael Handis and Amy Ballmer for snacks and discussion about working with this special population followed by a tour of the new graduate student spaces at Bobst Library.
RSVP by February 6th to Michael Handis (mhandis@gc.cuny.edu)
or Amy Ballmer (aballmer@gc.cuny.edu).
Scott Collard, the Social Sciences Collections Coordinator and Graduate Student Services Coordinator at New York University, will speak about how NYU supports graduate research. Mr. Collard received his MSLIS from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MA in General Studies in the Humanities (Early American History and Literature) from the University of Chicago.
Besides graduate outreach, Scott administers the library’s virtual reference services and is the liaison to the Education and Linguistics programs. A member of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Mr. Collard chairs the Membership and Orientation Committee of the Educational and Behavioral Sciences Section. His research interests focus on the graduate student service and space design; the intersection between technology and research services; and user-centered design and customizability.
This meeting is being co-sponsored by the Bibliographic Instruction Special Interest Group of the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). It will be held at the METRO offices, 57 East 11th Street, 4th floor in Manhattan on November 9th from 10 am to noon.
If you plan to attend, please email one of the GSDG co-chairs, Michael Handis (mhandis@gc.cuny.edu) or Amy Ballmer (aballmer@gc.cuny.edu).
The following is the Mission Statement for the GSDG:
The Graduate Services Discussion Group of ACRL/NY (GSDG) meets to discuss how to customize and do outreach to graduate students in all disciplines. How does graduate student needs in libraries differ from those of undergraduates? Services to graduate students is a specialization in academia, particularly in libraries. This group will provide a forum in which to discuss ways to serve the graduate student population through instruction, specialized services, and digital initiatives.
At the ACRL/NY executive board meeting on June 10, the board voted unanimously to approve a motion by Michael Handis to create a new discussion group for library services for graduate students. The new group, the Graduate Services Discussion Group, will be co-chaired by Michael Handis (mhandis@gc.cuny.edu), Associate Librarian for Collection Management at the Mina Rees Library, CUNY Graduate Center, and Amy Balmer (abalmer@gc.cuny.edu), Senior Assistant Reference Librarian also at the Mina Rees Library.
It was felt that services in libraries to students always focus on undergraduates with graduate students being the “invisible” users who rarely have the same needs as undergraduates. Also, most literature on student services focuses on the undergraduate population. It is hoped that the events that the Graduate Services Discussion Group (GSDG) holds will help draw attention to the needs of graduate students as well as facilitate discussion on how to service this diverse population.
The first meeting of the Graduate Services Discussion Group (GSDG) will be held in the fall.
