Researching in the Zone: The South Forty Collaboration

The idea of “Researching in the Zone” came about in the Fall of 2021. We reached out to the “South Forty” in hopes of beginning a collaboration with Residential Housing. The “South Forty” is a specific location on the main campus where first and second year students are housed. Our hope was to establish a permanent presence there, to raise the awareness of libraries services and resources for first-year students. We wanted to get our message to these students when they first arrived on campus. We saw an opportunity, on the “South Forty”, for the libraries to create a supportive, collaborative, risk-free, no pressure environment where students could get super-hyped about research.

The “South Forty” is comprised of ten Residential Colleges (dorms) consisting of multiple buildings. Some of the buildings have designated library space, varying in size and function. The dorms have ample study, collaborative, instruction and social spaces, and is staffed with a variety of faculty, staff and students, who are dedicated to the well-being and support of the students.

For the past three semesters, we have learned what works and what doesn’t work on the “South Forty”. We continue to explore the environment and hope to expand this project to include juniors, seniors and graduate students in residential housing, both on and off campus.