Call Us
Email Us
Chat With Us
Consult with a Librarian: A librarian may have some helpful ideas or spot potential problems with an assignment. They can also help you keep abreast of changes in the information world that may affect your assignments.
Put assignments in writing: Your students can better meet and understand the requirements of an assignment when they have a copy to read and reread. Be sure directions are clear, complete, and error-free. Define any technical, library, and discipline-specific terminology also.
Provide a copy of the assignment to the Library: The library staff can better help your students when they are alerted to coming assignments. This also helps the library build a stronger curriculum-centered collection.
Integrate library research objectives with course objectives: Students can simultaneously learn course content and research skills. Students need to see the relevance of assignments to the course, and the relevance of library research skills to the assignment. They also need to understand that research skills learned now will be helpful to them in future classes and in real life.
Match the assignment to the research level of the students: Consider the grade level of the students and the amount of instruction they have had in research skills in the past. Also consider if they have been out of school for a while.
Be up-to-date: Make sure your assignments require up-to-date research methods and resources. The information world is constantly changing!
Promote ethical habits of scholarship: Make sure your students understand the importance of academic integrity and the avoidance of plagiarism. Expect proper source citations.
Test your assignment – Is it doable? Can you complete the assignment with the resources that are available to your students? Have you recently checked that the needed materials are available in the library? Is the assignment too hard? Is it too easy? Does it meet your objectives?
Attend a library instruction class with your students: Actions speak louder than words. By attending a library class with your students, you are sending them a message that these skills are important, and it reinforces your assignment. By the same token, not attending a library class with your students will send the opposite message. Which message would you rather send?
Overestimating students’ research skills: Dissect the assignment and analyze the skills needed to complete it. Do your students have these skills? If not, work with a librarian to design the necessary instructions. Note: Students often overestimate their own research skills.
Creating a mob scene: Sending a large group of students to look for the same resource or to research the same topic at the same time can create havoc. Consider placing heavy-demand items on Reserve or give students broader choices in topics and sources. Plan ahead by scheduling your class to visit the library to do research when you know a librarian is available to assist.
Setting limitations that are unclear or inappropriate to the assignment: Beware of restrictions such as, “You may not use the Internet” or “No encyclopedias” or “Books only.” Such limitations must carefully match the assignment/topic. Examples of such problems may include:
Expecting traditional library research on a too-local topic: There is often little published information available on a very local topic. Again, ask yourself “Is this assignment doable? Can I complete it myself? How many sources are available in our library?”
Assigning a photocopied assignment from a textbook: Every library is different. A generic assignment may need to be tweaked or customized to work at our library.
Failing to incorporate research assignments in your classes because you feel uncomfortable with your own level or knowledge of research skills: There is no shame in admitting that you do not know everything about the modern information world. It has changed dramatically over the past decade, and online resources are constantly changing. As a community college instructor, you need to have up-to-date knowledge of the information world in which you and your students are operating. Make an appointment with a librarian, attend library workshops, or view some of our online tutorials and research guides to learn more about the resources offered at our library.
