“I think a lot of students just feel overwhelmed with the paper and all the parts that come with a paper together.”
Those words came from Linda Hauck, business librarian for the University who held a workshop in Falvey 205 last Wednesday, Oct. 30 about preparing for final research papers. The workshop, known as “Get on a Research Groove,” was part of Villanova’s Empowerment Week—a week of programs meant to raise awareness about the challenges experienced by college students and give students advice to overcome them.
As business librarian, Hauck provides resources for all programs within the Villanova School of Business, including collection development. For her workshop, she went into detail about different tools and phenomena that either affect a student’s ability to begin their papers or exist to make the research process easier. The most important tool she talked about was Copilot.
Copilot is Microsoft’s large language generation tool, a software process that uses data to give a response generated by artificial intelligence. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is such a tool, and it is the basis upon which Copilot is used. The big difference between ChatGPT and Copilot is that there is a measure of privacy when one uses the subscription version.
If one is asking the tool sensitive questions or if one is a researcher exploring potential topics, chances are that one would not want their information to be shared publicly. Copilot prevents people from facing this issue, since the information being used to train it is completely protected. Combined with the links to online sources that Copilot provides with the text it generates, it can serve as a useful tool for finding reputable sources quickly.
To make matters easier, the University itself is subscribed to the service. One simply needs to go to CoPilot on the Microsoft website and sign in with their Villanova credentials. However, it is crucial to review, check and respect each professor’s policy regarding the use of language generation tools in the coursework.
Another issue that commonly keeps students from beginning research is “library anxiety.” As described in the workshop, the best way to conquer this is through goal setting. If you feel nervous about getting your work started or you are too busy to continue, set a small goal for yourself.
“I’m going to go to the library, sit at a quiet table and write as much as I can for the next hour,” Hauck said, giving an example.
If one is having further difficulties getting started, they can schedule an appointment with a Falvey research librarian. Research librarians offer one-on-one sessions and advice to students looking to get information for their research papers.
The final significant mental block is the inability to set proper boundaries. While faculty and staff understand that college is a time to be social and form bonds, many students fail to know when to turn down social offers in order to focus on academics.
“You are here specifically for academics and your career and a specific passion you want to pursue career wise for the rest of your life, and that is important to focus on,” Hauck said.
Whether it is a research librarian, a professor or a generation tool, there are many ways you can improve your research process.
