Ask a Student: '07 Graduating Peer Mentors Reflect on Their Time in the LibraryPam Bach, Head of the Langsam Library Info Commons, pam.bach@uc.edu |
|
These peer mentors all agree that working as peer mentors at the Info Commons Desk in Langsam Library was better than any other job on campus! |
|
Skip to Quicklinks Skip to QuickSearch Skip to News Skip to Help Skip to Services Skip to Information Disability Services Information
As a philosophy major and pre-law student, Tyrone Collier spent countless hours in Langsam Library beyond simply working at the Info Commons Desk. Collier used the library frequently when researching and writing numerous class papers based on classical texts as well as sociopolitical and ethical issues. For position papers, Lexis/Nexis was Collier’s database of choice, finding legal cases to exemplify a point. No surprise then that Collier has been accepted to the School of Law at Howard University.
As an early childhood education major, Pratima Dayal used her library skills in all aspects of college from citing sources in APA style to choosing research articles on a specific topic. Through her experience as a student peer mentor, Dayal helped many of her classmates research topics, as well as show some of her professors how to find articles. She especially enjoyed working with non-traditional students who mostly needed help with computer shortcuts and other technical issues, making a significant difference through tips that appeared easy and straightforward.
As a secondary education/language arts major, Kyle Denlinger became a locator and critical evaluator of high-quality curriculum materials and texts. Denlinger showed many of his classmates more relevant resources than they knew what to do with, and they have taken affectionately to calling him their “resident library nerd.” Being a peer mentor has changed the way he interacts with people. He has learned how to get to the root of someone’s question. Before he even began working as a peer mentor, Denlinger was familiar with the unique collection in University Libraries, having written an article for the News Record about the event celebrating the 
As a biology major and pre-med student, Ben Hay was always deep in research in the sciences. From finding scientific definitions to researching background information in order to design experiments for lab classes, Hay added depth to his research abilities over the course of three years as a peer mentor. He often introduced fellow classmates to library resources such as Access Science, highlighting the difference between online library reference tools versus the more familiar Web search engines such as Wikipedia and Google.
As an organizational leadership major, Dave Sullivan recently completed three separate capstones his senior year, crediting much of his success in these courses from the knowledge and skills he gained working as a peer mentor at Langsam Library. Sullivan was never shy when helping other students understand how to access the databases, use off-campus access, and search for full-text articles.