New thoughts on library outreach to international students

摘要

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to three articles from ReferenceServices Review on the theme of library outreach to international students. It aims to give a summaryoverview of the current research on international students and library outreach and to introduce andcontextualize the three articles. Design/methodology/approach — This paper frames the three articles and places them in thecontext of the exhaustive literature on the topic. Findings -- International students are not all alike. Grouping all of these students together under theumbrella term of "international student" contributes little, if at all, to the understanding of their realneeds and problems. Practical implications — This paper suggests that there are still areas for further exploration on thetopic of international students and library outreach. Originality/value — This paper argues with the oversimplified and generalized approach tointernational students, and suggests that it is not the most useful way to assist individual students.