The University’s library collection could leave students drowning in over 10 million printed items and approximately 40,000 online journals and articles.

In fact, the library system at the University receives approximately 230,000 questions every year.

Yet for some students, doing academic research isn’t a concern.

Ameen Abdulrasool, sophomore in Business, said his coursework so far does not require him to do much research.

“In my experience, I think students have a good grasp,” Abdulrasool said. “My roommates are in Engineering and they’re all doing plenty of research with no problem.”

Despite Abdulrasool’s confidence in students’ research skills, an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education said that college students may seem tech savvy but the reality is they cannot do simple academic research and rely too much on non-academic sources such as Wikipedia.

“I think (students) just aren’t aware of what the library has to offer,” said Lisa Hinchliffe, Coordinator for Information Literacy Services and Instruction. “They use things that are familiar. This is the typical problem: How do you know what you don’t know?”

Christina Freitag, freshman in Education, said part of the reason students use informal sources like Wikipedia and Google is to hasten the research process.

“I think since students wait until the last minute … they go to Wikipedia,” she said.

However, Freitag does not think that students have difficulties doing research for their college classes.

“I doubt they really lack the skills,” she said. “It’s either time or motivation they lack.”

However, Abdulrasool said he feels that students do not lack the skills to do research, they simply lack the desire to do the extra work.

“It’s not that fact that they don’t know how to do it,” he said. “It’s just not as interesting, so it’s not on their priority list. If they put in some effort, they could do it.”

Hinchliffe said that there are appropriate uses for Wikipedia and Google but she does not want students to limit themselves to these resources.

She said in her experience, students’ research skills from high school are not sufficient for college coursework — they need to develop their skills to the next level.

“In this age we’re in, it’s easy to do a search,” Hinchliffe said. “But to do a good search requires skill. When you do a good search, your results are more focused.”

The library offers a variety of programs to aid students in their research.

The first floor of the Undergraduate Library has a reference desk open to students with any questions. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the Undergraduate Library also holds “Librarian’s Office Hours,” where students can walk in and meet with a librarian to discuss research one-on-one.

The library also offers group instruction sessions and librarians are even available through Instant Messenger, MySpace, e-mail and by phone.

“They can just come to us for advice,” Hinchliffe said. “They don’t have to have already tried other sources. Many students who have talked to librarians have said it saves them a lot of time.”