Some rules-of-thumb I've devised over time about what works with first-year college students and the library.

1. Sherri B. Saines Reference and Instruction Librarian First Year Outreach Coordinator HCS Bibliographer Ohio University FYE and the Library: What I have learned so far

2. A simple “Hello” matters

3. It must be tied to a graded assignment

4. Students need active, relevant information

5. Be able to state your goals in one sentence.

6. We are all doing about the same things

7. No one knows how to market to 18-year-olds

8. Relationships matter

9. Communication is rare and beautiful

10. Assess everything. Numbers = $$

11. It costs $$

12. Plan the whole first year library experience

13. Easy. Fun. Free. Fast. Effective.

14. Fear nothing.

15. Sherri B. Saines Alden Library Ohio University Athens, OH saines@ohio.edu 740-593-9587

16. Biblography Price, Christy. ‘Why Don’t My Students Think I’m Groovy: The New “R”s for Engaging Millennial Learners.” The Teaching Professor, Aug / Sept 2009, Vol. 23 Issue 7, p7-8, 2p. Saines, Sherri, and Colleen Boff. “Services for First Year Students.” A section of Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki. http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Services_for_First_Year_Students. Sobel, Karen. “Promoting Library Reference Services to First-Year Undergraduate Students: What Works?” Reference & User Services Quarterly, Summer 2009, Vol. 48 Issue 4, p362-371, 10p. Hardesty, Larry L. The Role of the Library in the First College Year. Columbia, SC : NRCFYEST, University of South Carolina, 2007. (The Bible for FYE and libraries). Saines, Sherri. Find OUt First. http://www.library.ohiou.edu/newstudents/blog/