All morning I have had emails frm students about essays. They actually want me to hunt down references for them - not ones they have found but don't have access, I can understand that, but they have actually said "can you find me some full texts on XX topic" - isn't that their job???

Send 'em to boot camp with a big scary sergeant major shouting at them and making them seek out obscure references from 5:30am in the morning until sun-down. Then make 'em eat gruel for their tea.

Just out of interest what did you reply?
I find it hard to come up with an appropriate response (i.e. one with no swearing in it)

I just don't bother responding to emails like this. If the student asks why (which they probably won't because if they're too lazy to find references, then they'll most likely be too lazy to turn up at uni), I explain that thir research is their responsibility, usually makinga joke of it, in which they look a bit stupid in front of the other students. Ha, ha, ha, ha. It pays to be tough sometimes...

She asked me to find references that gave an overview on topic XX so I told her that SHE may have more luck finding references if she looked at individual factors within topic XX rather than trying to find one reference that tells all. I would have liked to have been ruder, problem is I can't be that rude, as I only do a few lectures per year and very much a junior member of the staff there - the more senior members tend to be very helpful (spoonfeedy) to students, so if I kick up a fuss I will be the one that is blamed :-(

the saga continues! I was approached while lecturing today by the same student saying in response to my email which said she should try the other library we have access to across town "but I CAN'T walk all the way over there!" and has now requested that I send a load of articles over to her. Now I wouldn't mind if it was purely access to these articles i.e. she found some she wanted to read and didn't have access. She hasn't even found them - she wants me to provide a list and the fulltexts!!!

I've had lazier students than this.

I would say something along the lines of that researching and finding important references is part of the assignment and these are very useful skills to develop.

I had one guy who wanted me to do the assignment for him - I told on him and he got into trouble muhahahaha

Sneaks, she sounds both spoilt and lazy. I don't think that your faculty colleagues would regard any complaints from her seriously surely. And can't people access things online in the main anyway?

hi sneaks :-) have you sent this student a copy of those "how to find references" "how to use the library website" pdfs; once she knows how to run search on say Web of Knowledge, then perhaps she will stop bugging you.
have a wonderful weekend
satchi