Instruction Sessions

How to Achieve a Successful Library Instruction Session

If the students in your class will be completing a research assignment, consider scheduling a library instruction session with us. We love helping students learn how to use the library. All sessions will be held in the library instruction room on the lower level of the library. This classroom is equipped with computers so students can practice the research skills that they are learning. For complex assignments, we are glad to schedule two or more sessions.

Here are some things you can do to ensure that your library instruction session is productive:

  1. Please give the instruction librarian at least two weeks to prepare your instruction session.
    Librarians take these instruction sessions seriously. Giving them time to prepare a good session for your students is important to its success.
  2. Professors are required to attend their sessions.
    The professor's presence adds importance to what the librarian is covering and input from the professor during the session is welcomed by librarians and students alike.
  3. Schedule the session when it will have the most impact.
    Students tend to be most engaged in a library instruction session if it is scheduled late enough in the semester so they have started to be concerned about finding materials for their assignment but early enough that they have time to complete the assignment thoroughly. Often, about one month before the assignment’s due date is just about right.

 A Few Guidelines for Creating Effective Library Assignments:

  1. Send an advance copy of the assignment and its due date to the instruction librarian.
    The more the librarian knows about your assignment ahead of time, the better they can prepare to help your students find the resources they need.
  2. Assume minimal library knowledge.
    Although many students will be familiar with using some library tools (e.g., dictionaries, encyclopedias), few will understand the intricacies of searching electronic databases; most have never used research journals. The librarian can tailor an instructional session to explain library resources such as subject-specific article databases that will be required for the assignment.
  3. Explain the assignment clearly, preferably in writing.
    Students who arrive at a library instruction session with a clear idea of what their assignment entails, including your criteria for acceptable sources, will tend to be engaged in the session.
  4. Always be sure the library holds the needed information.
    There are few experiences more frustrating for students than looking for what does not exist, has been discarded, or has been checked out. If multiple students will need to use a particular item, it is a good idea to place it on reserve at the circulation desk. 
  5. Understand that many of the library's databases are "on the web" and therefore, "on the internet."
    Often students do not differentiate between the free web (Google searching) and online resources that the library has purchased and made available electronically (via journal databases). Therefore, restricting students to “no internet sources” rules out a wealth of legitimate, published, often peer-reviewed, content made available to the students through the library’s databases. When explaining your criteria for acceptable resources, it is important to differentiate between published and unpublished sources on the internet.
  6. Avoid the mob scene.
    Where possible, provide students with a variety of topics and sources, and place assigned readings on reserve at the circulation desk so students can share them.
  7. Teach research strategy when appropriate.
    It can be helpful to provide students with a list of steps involved in the research assigned. The librarian will be glad to review strategies for the assignment with the class and discuss appropriate tools or types of material.

With sufficient lead time, librarians can provide library instruction sessions, workshops, and written materials geared specifically to your course and assignment as well as general orientations for more inexperienced students. Please ask us!

Contact Persons:

Jane la Plante
Director, Reference and Instruction Librarian
858-3857

Ben Bruton
Reference and Instruction Librarian
858-3013

Mara West
Reference and Instruction Librarian
858-3095