 Meet Joe, a recent public relations graduate from NKU, who just secured his first communication position. He's experienced many of the same classes that you have. And throughout those classes, one thing he has found to be consistent is the need to locate, use, and engage with information. In this video, Joe is going to reflect on his research experiences and how his perception of information and research evolved as a student. As a new student, Joe thought research was pretty easy. After all, he was pretty awesome at using Google. It's not hard to type something in and pull information out. As Joe progressed through his college career, he still felt he was pretty good at research. But there were moments of doubt. In fact, this is common. Researchers who study information habits of college students have found a trend among confidence levels in college students engaging in research. Early on in the research process, students actually experience a lot of uncertainty until they choose a topic, at which point their confidence increases, but only to dip again as students explore information related to the topic. Joe found this chart pretty accurate. He found that even though he had a topic, the amount of information was overwhelming. And he often didn't really know what type of sources were best or where he should look. Joe's didn't always seem that relevant. He often felt he was grasping for a few pieces of information that would work, but he always wondered if he really had found the best piece of information. Eventually, a librarian validated Joe's feelings, explaining that research is in fact hard. The purpose of research is to not only learn new information, but engage in deep inquiry with a topic and ask questions. It should encourage thinking and applying new information to current knowledge, not just finding a quick piece of information. Further, the librarian explained to Joe that while it's easy to think of research as a linear or straightforward process, in reality, research is really pretty messy. There are certain steps, such as choosing a topic, finding the information, reading, integrating the information into a paper, and writing a final draft. But really, as you read information, your topic or research question might change. You might find information that doesn't get read, and you will read information that you don't use, and as you read, you will return to searching, creating a visual that is much more messy than originally depicted. Thinking about information and research topics as a way to encourage the development of his own ideas, and to raise questions regarding his chosen topics, helped Joe to reframe his thoughts about the whole process. He also realized that while he was good at finding information, even using the databases at Steely Library, actually came naturally to him. He struggled in other areas, such as recognizing different types of sources, and pulling out the main ideas from scholarly research articles. Reflecting on his strengths, weaknesses, and the purpose of a research assignment helped him become a better and more engaged student, and now a more informed colleague in his workplace.