Research is becoming more and more complicated. The constant increase in the amount of information that is available online and in research databases challenges the discernment skill of experts who have been researching and publishing for years. To a student who has never before faced these challenges, the task can be overwhelming.

Buswell Library wants to partner with you, the teaching faculty, to help our students sort through the tremendous amount of information available to them. The skills they will learn—locating, evaluating, synthesizing, and ethically using source material—will serve them not only in completing their academic assignments, but in their daily lives.

How is Library Instruction Conducted?

Time and Place
A library session for your class is usually taught during your regular class time. Instruction can be delivered in your classroom or in one of the computer labs in the library. There are two labs in the library, one seating sixteen students and the other twenty-nine (the labs can also be combined into one large space). The labs contain computers for each student as well as a teaching station for the instructor.

Instructors
Library sessions can be taught by a librarian; by you, the professor; or collaboratively. If you elect to have the librarian do the teaching, we ask that you attend the session in order to answer any assignment questions that might arise, and also to share your research expertise in the subject with the class.

Content
Research has indicated that library instruction is most effective when associated with a class assignment: a research paper, bibliography, speech, etc. When students are invested in the library session, they are more likely to be engaged while the session is being taught, and retain what they learned.

The following topics are commonly taught. Of course, they cannot all be covered in a single session, but we can discuss what can be covered in the allotted time, and customize the instruction to your needs.

Introduction to thinking about research Using the library catalog Identifying scholarly journals Searching research databases (journal articles, etc.) Searching Google effectively

Using RefWorks (bibliography software) Using interlibrary loan Evaluating websites Finding book or movie reviews Tours of the library

To Arrange an Instruction Session:

Nancy Falciani
Reference Associate & Instructor
630-752-5447
Nancy.Falciani@wheaton.edu