Did high school adequately prepare you for college?

On Friday, May 4, Kim Davies Hoffman attended the Spring Conference of the Western New York/Ontario (WNY/O) chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The title of the conference was “Blur and Blend: Connecting Our Communities” and consisted of four sessions focused on librarian efforts to reach out beyond the physical library.

One of the more interesting and interactive presentations was offered by a working group of Rochester-area librarians, each situated in very different library settings – BOCES, Wilson Magnet High School, Rochester City Schools, Brockport High School, Monroe Community College, Bryant & Stratton College, SUNY Brockport, and the University of Rochester. The panel of speakers introduced the document, “Core Library and Research Skills Grade 9-14+,” that their committee has developed over the past few years and discussed various collaborative projects that have lessened the communication gap between high school and college librarians. The main objective of the ongoing conversations is to identify reasonable expectations of an entering college freshman's level of research aptitudes and attitudes and the efforts and skills needed at the high school level to adequately prepare graduating high school seniors. With high school and college librarians working together, we hope to create a more seamless and less anxiety-ridden transition of high school to college-level research.

Now that you are immersed in SUNY Geneseo’s expectations of college-level research, what information-seeking skills and attitudes do you wish your high school librarian had stressed more emphatically?