Be all that you can be: Targeting library orientations to military cadets
Abstract
At Texas A&M University, the Corps of Cadets is the largest and oldest student organization on campus. Each summer, nearly 1,000 freshman recruits participate in the Corps' Freshman Orientation Week (FOW), a military-style orientation. Because of their participation in FOW, cadets miss out on many other traditional freshman orientation opportunities. To reach this large and highly visible freshman cohort, the University Libraries adopted a military-inspired orientation approach that built on the unique nature of FOW. Librarians strategically used the bonds formed by cadets over the grueling week of FOW by gamifying the presentation, incorporating competition, and relying on the cadets' sense of camaraderie to create a fun and meaningful experience. This chapter presents a case study on how to target particular audiences in first-year orientations, specifically student cadets.