They Sought Our Help: A Survey of One-on-One Research Assistance at The University of Tennessee Lupton Library

Providing research assistance on an individual basis to patrons has long been a standard service in the panoply of services at many academic libraries. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Lupton Library describes its one-on-one research service as follows: if you are new to using the library resources, can’t find the right source for your paper or need a demonstration of a database, need help in tracking an obscure article, or have any other questions that require a little extra help, Lupton Library offers one-on-one research help to students and faculty. You many request a research appointment online or if you want to work with a specific librarian, you can contact him or her directly (spring Newsletter, 2011). About five years ago the reference librarians at UTC started keeping statistics of how many students and faculty use the one-on one service and how much time was being devoted to that service