This week, at the Andrew Mellon Library, a range of academic support sessions helped students readjust to Choate’s demanding academic coursework. These sessions included “Academic Integrity and Plagiarism at Choate,” “iPad Tips and Tricks,” “Organizing Academic Life,” and “NY Digital Access and Set Up.”
In “Academic Integrity and Plagiarism at Choate,” students learned about how to properly cite sources, create an annotated bibliography and use footnotes, skills vital to academic success across disciplines.
In “iPad Tips and Tricks,” students became more efficient on the iPad by developing skills such as split screening and learning shortcuts for applications such as Notability and Dropbox.
In “Organizing Academic Life,” students learned how to organize files using Google Drive and Dropbox, sort through files efficiently, and organize their time using calendars, alerts, reminders, and notifications. With different teachers using different virtual classrooms, including Canvas, Google Classroom and Dropbox, it is important for students to be comfortable with as many platforms as possible.
In “NY Times Digital Access and Set Up,” students were able to create a New York Times account that, according to Ms. Courtney Jaser, Instruction and Digital Services Librarian, is “great for research, keeping up with events going on in the world, and cutting-edge stories.”
Ms. Jaser is only one of many librarians who are willing to help students with their academic difficulties, whether or not the library is hosting a scheduled program. These sessions are held, said Ms. Jaser, “to support students in all academic life. We want to be a great hub for students to help them study.”
Dr. Sherry Newman, Director of the Andrew Mellon Library, pioneered these academic support sessions along with Ms. Sandra Rampertab, Instruction and Outreach Librarian. Dr. Newman added, “We’re trying to promote library services. The library is not just about books. Did you know there is only one section of the library where you’re not allowed to talk? In the rest of the library, you’re allowed to eat, drink, and talk, too.”
In the future, the library plans to introduce more academic development sessions to their current programming, including an Intro to Kanopy, a video platform hosting a library of documentaries, and a session about LiquidText, an iOS app that allows students to annotate and engage documents.
