A Survey of Library Support for Formal Undergraduate Research Programs

Merinda Kaye Hensley is Assistant Professor, University Library, and Instructional Services Librarian and Scholarly Commons Co-coordinator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; e-mail: mhensle1@ illinois.edu. Sarah L. Shreeves is Associate Professor, University Library, and IDEALS Coordinator and Scholarly Commons Co-coordinator at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; e-mail: sshreeve@ illinois.edu. Stephanie Davis-Kahl is Associate Professor and Scholarly Communications Librarian at Illinois Wesleyan University; e-mail: [email protected]. © 2014 Merinda Kaye Hensley, Sarah L. Shreeves, and Stephanie Davis-Kahl, Attribution-NonCommercial (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) CC BY-NC Undergraduate research is defined by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.” This study serves as a snapshot of current library practices in relation to formal undergraduate research programs and identifies common elements of library support among different types of institutions. The results of this research fill a gap in both the library and education literature, provide critical background data for libraries wishing to build support for undergraduate research programs, and suggest a foundation for further research into an underexplored area.