Chris Ortega - Week 9

I think it is very important for writing center staff to pursue writing center research. The only way that any discipline can move forward on a broad level is if people talk to each other about what they are doing, and research is one of the best ways for that conversation to happen in academia.

One potential writing center research topic I would be interested in knowing more about is how common it is for university/college writing centers to offer their services to their neighboring, non-academic communities, and how those communities use those services.

As a librarian I have noticed that you can find many, many services offered to the public through libraries and other public-serving organizations, but writing and editing help, especially in a one-on-one context, is exceedingly rare. I just recently looked for such efforts, and I was unable to find any major initiatives for offering free writing help or editing services to the non-student public apart from the National Institute of Health (NIH) Library offering light/medium editing services for NIH-related work.

Is there a demand from the public for these types of writing center services? If so, what types of writing do community members want help with?

Comments

  1. Carol SeverinoNovember 4, 2020 at 12:56 PM

    I don't think library patrons are demanding help with their writing, but if libraries offer it, they'll take it. (As in "Field of Dreams," "if you build it, they will come." People come with all sorts of writing--from application essays and letters and personal statements to high school and elementary school homework, to creative writing. I'd say for us, it's been half professional writing and half creative writing.

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