People of the Library: Angie Oehrli

Angie Oehrli

What is your role/position? Interests? Background?
Like many librarians I have multiple responsibilities. I am a Learning Librarian which means most of what I do is help undergraduates learn better ways to find the information that they need for research papers, class projects, and for real life.  I'm the librarian for the WISE RP and MRC RP programs in MoJo. I am also the Children's Literature Librarian so I help School of Ed, School of Information, and some Residential College students with their work helping kids. This year, I'm working with 2 volunteer organizations who won Student Mini Grants. One group works with kids at the Washtenaw Youth Detention Center and the other group, PALMA, Proyecto Avance: Latino Mentoring Association, tutors and mentors area Latino students and families at the Ann Arbor District Library.  

I'm a former high school and middle school teacher so I really love teaching. I read a lot and like going to the gym -- I love Zumba! I was raised on a dairy farm and have lived my adult life all over the state of Michigan. I really love it here at UofM!

What library resources do you think many students aren’t aware of that you think they should be?
There are two great Science/Social Science Databases that I think students should checkout -- Scopus and Web of Science. There's also a great news and current events database called LexisNexis Academic -- It has things like transcripts of news programs and other news sources from all over the world. Also, people should check out NoveList K-8 Plus, this is a database that includes book reviews of many different kinds of books, including Young Adult Fiction.

What is your favorite Umich Library? Why?

How do I pick just one??!!! I love Shapiro because it's my "home base."  It has just changed so much since I've been here-And it continues to change, making it more flexible for all kinds of student needs. If you need a quiet place to study, the Tanner Library in Angell Hall is a peaceful little place to focus on your homework.  

How do you want to see students engage with the library?

I love that students are making some really interesting things up in the Duderstadt Center using the 3D Lab and MiDen, the Design Lab, and Groundworks.  It'll be exciting to see what students create as we bring the Design Lab concept into the 1st floor of Shapiro Library.  

I'm happy to see students engage with us online using the databases and the Ask a Librarian IM service. I'm also happy to work with them face-to-face at one of the many reference desks in our libraries. If students need help finding high quality information that maybe is different from the sources everyone else is using in their papers and projects, they can always ask! We're happy to help!