LIB-100 Main Takeaways

Throughout the semester we have explored and utilized different approaches towards academic research, unpacking the plethora of resources we have access to here at Wake Forest.

After wrapping up my final project, I thought back to each week of the semester and how every lesson guided us through different points of access into the ZSR stacks and beyond.

My humbling realization at the completion of this process is that there is more information that I ever thought available here at Wake Forest, and that an immense amount of care and effort goes into preserving, cataloging, and sharing it. My only response to this actualization of the sheer amount that is out there is pure amazement.

ZSR in itself is a space more valuable and useful than I can put into words, as it possesses the ultimate collection of everything you could possibly know. More surprisingly is that you do not even have to step foot in building itself to reap the benefits of its contents.

Having this class being entirely online opened my eyes to the increasing presence of online information sharing, and that I can access whatever I need to from any location. This privilege can often be taken for granted, but this course has influenced me never to under-appreciate ZSR and its boundless resources.

Aaron Swartz essentially died for the rights we enjoy as Wake Forest students, and as most of the world goes without access to these databases, I feel the need to capitalize on the opportunity I have to work with and learn from them.

If we can all treat our library resources as the treasures they are, I feel as though a lot of us would find ourselves more involved, and driven to learn. My increased familiarity with database research and the ZSR as a whole has increased my confidence in tackling difficult research assignments.

It is my firm view that there is almost never a lack of information out there, but the path to that information may not always be entirely clear.

From the lessons and skills I have acquired from the class I can safely say that I move forward a more experienced and polished researcher, with a new research companion in the ZSR.