Management: From Infancy to Adolescence: Seven Lessons for Creating a Sustainable Graduate Student Orientation Program

Abstract

In recent years, academic librarians have been strengthening the suite of orientation opportunities they offer students and placing a priority on familiarizing them with collections and services to support their academic endeavor. At most universities, the primary—if not the exclusive—target of these efforts is the undergraduate population. Yet graduate students also need a thorough orientation to their postgraduate environment and what the library has to offer. But for a variety of reasons, that audience can be shortchanged. In this column, Harriet Lightman provides an overview of a successful program crafted specifically for doctoral students at a research university. Lightman shares her success story, as well as the lessons learned throughout more than a decade of adapting the program to meet students’ changing needs. —Editor