Growing up in southwestern Ohio surrounded by corn and crickets, Science Librarian David Luftig always saw agriculture as home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, Luftig joined the Owen Science and Engineering Library as its first science librarian in two years. Transitioning from an engineering and physical science librarian at the University of Dayton to his current position opened Luftig\u2019s eyes to the altruism of students and faculty in WSU\u2019s agricultural programs, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorking on projects … [that help] grow things with more nutritional value so we can feed more of the world – that makes me feel like a better person.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each year, Luftig helps undergraduate researchers in their senior capstone classes to synthesize sources and gain media literacy skills so they can conduct high-level research in the future. In 2021, he collaborated with students in Agricultural Food Science 410, developing research topics ranging from how to market Washington raspberries to the impact of breaking down the Lower Granite Lock and Dam, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luftig said working with students reminds him they are not entering the agriculture field simply to make money. They actually care about making the world a better place and balancing inequities in environmental systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur students are a constant source of inspiration for me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graduate students participating in WSU Extension<\/a> programs also found Luftig\u2019s advice about storing and managing their research valuable. He said off-campus students often feel like they are far removed from the university, and he has tried to close the gap between them and the WSU Libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Within the first few months of his position, Luftig contacted the Prosser graduate extension group to give a Zoom presentation. Soon after, he received a package of chocolate-covered cherries and a thank-you card. Luftig said it was heartwarming to know extension students, whom he considers the \u201ccool kids,\u201d felt acknowledged and valued by the university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think they\u2019re really cool and really special, so for them to be like, \u2018You\u2019re really cool, and you\u2019re really special,\u2019\u2014wow. It makes me feel really good,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate students often hesitate to reach out to librarians, thinking they can conduct the research themselves, said Emily Klarquist, a doctoral candidate in crop science and full-time grant writer for the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences\u2019 Office of Research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Klarquist said she wished she had contacted a librarian in the early stages of her doctorate program because coming up with a research idea and sifting through databases on biofortification\u2014increasing foods\u2019 micronutrients through selective breeding, gene modification, or certain fertilizers\u2014was difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember going to my professor and being like, \u2018This is a really new field and people aren\u2019t doing much,\u2019 but actually there were thousands of publications out,\u201d she said. \u201cI just wasn\u2019t searching correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alongside Klarquist and two other graduate students, Luftig helped conduct a biofortification scoping review<\/a>, which identifies the themes and gaps of literature available on a specific topic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He developed a search strategy, combing eight databases resulting in over 20,000 articles, which is the most crucial part of a review protocol, Klarquist said. If a researcher refines a search by looking for articles written only in English, for example, it creates biases and reduces the breadth of a search. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf he put \u2018and\u2019 instead of \u2018or\u2019 in the search strategy, we could be missing thousands of papers with that simple mistake,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with assisting graduate students, Luftig said he also collaborates with extension programs to create digital spaces for their research, including a photograph repository for the Master Gardener Program<\/a> and a database<\/a> of historical documents and information placed on WSU Research Exchange<\/a>, WSU\u2019s research repository to preserve and share university scholarship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Collaborating with Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections<\/a>, Luftig helped digitize at least 41,000 pages of material dating back to the 20th century after receiving a $12,000 matching grant from the Center for Research Libraries Project CERES. The repository now has keywords that make the research more discoverable, and it is a one-stop shop for WSU\u2019s agricultural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can digitize all the content in the world, but it\u2019s worth nothing if you can\u2019t make stuff discoverable,\u201d Luftig said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n