On Monday, September 11, students in Honors Research traveled to UCLA's Powell Library for an intensive workshop.
Honors Research is a one-semester elective that teaches students to conduct in-depth academic research and formulate independent, scholarly arguments. Over the past few weeks, nine students have worked with Dr. Domzalski to choose topics they are passionate about—from sports to psychology to music—and the class is now practicing research skills integral to collegiate and professional work. "We were so excited to have this opportunity," says Dr. Domzalski. "Students can learn many valuable research strategies in a high school classroom, but nothing can prepare them for college-level projects like working with the resources available on a college campus." Powell Library's holdings are particularly extensive, with multiple world-class collections; the university provides access to more than 12 million volumes, 3 million ebooks, and 2,000 databases with millions of scholarly periodicals.
The university's librarians commenced the workshop by providing a tour of Powell Library. Along the way, they familiarized students with the various resources available in a university library, such as group study spaces, technology rentals, course reserves, and interlibrary loans; students also learned how to locate a book in the physical stacks. Following that, they had the chance to work independently on their projects after participating in a guided research session. Students also found texts in other UCLA collections, including the Charles E. Young Research Library and the Louise M. Young Biomedical Library.
By the end of the visit, Sierra Canyon's Honors Research students had acquired numerous sources to help them produce a scholarly paper and conference presentation by the end of the semester. "But even more important," says Dr. Domzalski, "students gained research experience that gives them a huge advantage once they start college."
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