IBDP Students Tour Libraries

By Ms Tracy Kelly, Acting Head of Library and Information Services

While Radford’s BSSS students were busy sitting their practise ACT Scaling Test (AST) on Moderation Day on Thursday, 17 August, the Year 11 International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) cohort went on an excursion to support their research efforts as they begin early preparatory work on their extended essays.

The students travelled early in the morning with Dr Rebecca Barlow and I to the National Library of Australia (NLA), where they attended the NLA tour, 'Online and Underground'. This included a research presentation to support our extended essay students to better utilise the NLA catalogue and research space. Due to some refurbishment work continuing in the many layers of the NLA below ground, we didn’t get to go into the stacks and see the robots that collect books requested by people to deliver to the reading room. However, the students really enjoyed looking at some artefacts in the archive collection, as well as the two exhibition spaces: Treasures Gallery and Grit and Gold.

From the NLA, we then travelled to the University of Canberra (UC) Library to have a look at the resources available. Radford senior students have access to borrow and use online resources from the UC Library for their research. The students had a look around and some elected to stay and work while the rest of the group walked back to Radford to end the day.

It was a great experience. As well as our own well-resourced library, our IBDP cohort now has amazing resources at hand to begin their research for their extended essay.