Story: “How UBC Library is addressing the growing demand for Indigenous reference help”


This post was originally published by the University of British Columbia Library.

Illustration by Matt Patton (UBC Library Communications and Marketing)

Imagine that you’re working at a library reference desk. A student hesitantly approaches you with a question. They are a nursing student who will be starting a community care plan assignment in Port Alberni. They need to find research on the local First Nation (Tseshaht), but don’t know what search terms to use. What would you tell them?

Another student is working on a paper for a 100-level engineering class and wants to include Indigenous perspectives into their sources. Where should they start?

These are two practice scenarios from Basic Indigenous Reference Training, a new type of workshop recently developed by UBC Library to address the growing demand from all disciplines to learn more about Indigenous topics in coursework and research.

Read the full story on the UBC Library website.