Mission Statement | CWRR & University Seminar | Instruction Beyond CWRR | Library Assignment Creation Assistance | Tips for Designing Effective Library Assignments
Library Instruction Mission Statement
Staley Library's instruction program exists to support the academic curriculum of Millikin University. Our goal is to empower students to become information literate, able to apply critical thinking skills in the retrieval and evaluation of information, confident in their information seeking abilities, and grow into life-long learners.
This is accomplished through:
- Research instruction integrated into the freshmen core classes (University Seminar, Critical Writing, Reading, and Research 1 and 2)
- Integration of instruction into courses in the majors
- Individualized research consultations provided at the Research Assistance desk or by appointment
- Instructional information available via the Library's web pages
Millikin University's mission is also reflected in the Library instruction program as students are prepared for professional success, democratic citizenship, and a personal life of meaning and value.
Mission Statement | CWRR & University Seminar | Instruction Beyond CWRR | Library Assignment Creation Assistance | Tips for Designing Effective Library Assignments
Research instruction for CWRR & University Seminar
University Seminar (IN 140 / IN 183)
Librarians distribute a self-guided tour to all students in the University Seminar. The goal of the tour is to introduce students to physical locations and services in the library and help relieve any "library anxiety" that they may feel.
Critical Writing, Reading and Research 1 (IN 150)
Librarians devote one class session to introducing the concept of information literacy, explaining about Library services and resources, and a demonstration of the Library website. A discussion of plagiarism and citing sources is also included. See the Library Instruction Section of the CWRR Teaching webpage for more information.
Critical Writing, Reading and Research 2 (IN 151)
Librarians spend an equivalent of one week with students (3 sessions for MWF classes and 2 sessions for T/Th classes). Research instruction in CWRR2 focuses on how to retrieve and evaluate information. In these hands-on sessions, librarians demonstrate the Library catalog and databases, and explain how to evaluate material retrieved from print resources, databases, and the Internet. Students also complete a search strategy worksheet and a web evaluation assignment. Towards the end of the semester students complete the Information Literacy Assessment Quiz that measures what library and research skills that students have learned throughout the CWRR sequence. See the Library Instruction Section of the CWRR Teaching webpage for more information.
If you have further questions, contact Debbie Campbell, Instructional Services Coordinator, ext. 6719, e-mail dmcampbell@millikin.edu.
Mission Statement | CWRR & University Seminar | Instruction Beyond CWRR | Library Assignment Creation Assistance | Tips for Designing Effective Library Assignments
Research instruction for other subject areas beyond CWRR
It is important to note that students gain only an introduction to research skills and experience in subject-specific research in these CWRR sessions will be minimal. It should also be remembered that the skills the students do learn are at a beginning level, which may not be adequate as students progress to more sophisticated and topic-specific course content. At a faculty member's request, librarians will be pleased to teach these advanced skills in individually tailored sessions. This service is available to any class offered at Millikin University.
If you would like to request library instruction for your class, please call or e-mail Debbie (Myers) Campbell, Library Instruction Coordinator or contact the liaison for your subject area. We ask that requests be made at least one week in advance of the session to allow us time to adequately address the needs of each individual class and to reserve computer lab space when needed.
If you have further questions, contact Debbie Campbell, Instructional Services Coordinator, ext. 6719, e-mail dmcampbell@millikin.edu.
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Mission Statement | CWRR & University Seminar | Instruction Beyond CWRR|Library Assignment Creation Assistance | Tips for Designing Effective Library Assignments
Library/Research Assignment Creation Assistance
The Research Librarians at Staley Library are happy to provide you with assistance in constructing research/library assignments for your courses.
The purpose of this service is to assist you in creating assignments that integrate the library's resources into your classes. Our goals are twofold: to help students gain information literacy skills and comfort in using the library, and to assist faculty in furthering their familiarity with the library and its ever-changing resources. Each year brings changes in both the resources available to us and the interfaces for using them. It can be very difficult to keep abreast of what is available.
In addition to databases and electronic resources, there are also continuing additions to our print sources. A number of substantial new titles, including several large subject encyclopedias, have been added to the Reference Collection in the past few years. There may be items included that are applicable to your course of which you are unaware.
The Research/Library Assisgnment Assistance will:
- Make sure the information can be found via one of our available databases.
- Confirm sources listed on your assignment are available at Staley Library.
- Test the library research portion of the assignment to assist you in developing a successful library research assignment.
Whether you are integrating or creating new library assignments, or have assignments already constructed, we can give you an idea of how successful they will be before your students attempt to complete them. A successful assignment will avoid unanswerable research questions and frustrated students and will produce great results.
Please contact the librarian liaison for your subject area for assistance.
Mission Statement | CWRR & University Seminar | Instruction Beyond CWRR | Library Assignment Creation Assistance | Tips for Designing Effective Library Assignments
Tips for Designing Effective Research Assignments
When designing a library or research-based assignment keep in mind the following list of tips for creating assignments that are as effective as possible. Assignments that are not well constructed can lead to high frustration levels in students and a negative view of using the library. We have seen many excellent library assignments and we would like to encourage more of these!
Do:
- Clearly state the objectives and purpose of the assignment so that students understand what they are supposed to learn as a result of completing the assignment.
- Discuss with your students the kind of material they are expected to locate. Are they looking for articles in magazines, scholarly journals, editorial commentary, etc.?
- Clarify terms that may not be understood by students. Do they know what an abstract is? An annotated bibliography?
- Allow ample time for the students to complete the assignment.
- Place an item on Reserves for the assignment if an entire class will be looking for the same thing. Unfortunately, students often stash such items somewhere in the stacks for their own personal use. Placing it on Reserves will ensure all students in the class have equal access to the item.
- Emphasize respect for library materials. We have had instances of students destroying materials to create collages for classes in the past. Consequences for such actions are harsh.
- Check your titles if you provide resource lists for your students. Sometimes our memories don't serve us well as we think and it is possible to forget and exact title, or combine two titles into a new, nonexistant title!
- Share copies of difficult or detailed assignements with the Research Librarians. We are better able to help your students if we are aware of the particulars of the assignment.
- Refer students to the Librarians if they have any questions or problems. We are here to help!
- Schedule a research instruction session if you feel one is appropriate.
- Complete the assignment yourself *before you give it to the students* to make sure it is "doable."
Don't:
- Make assumptions about students' research ability and information retrieval skills, particularly lower division students. How likely is it that they know the difference between a magazine and a journal? An online journal and a website?
- Send students on searches for obscure facts or scavenger hunts. These assignments are extremely time consuming and make library use seem unnecessarily difficult. Often it is the librarian, not the student, that ends up locating the information.
- Assign materials that aren't owned by Staley Library. If the library needs to add something to its collection to support your course, please let you appropriate librarian liaison know before the semester begins!
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