Information Literacy: Library Instruction

Only a few students will enter college as capable researchers, and fewer still will be truly adept at the research process. Most students entering college will not be able to effectively use library resources to find information, let alone use the resources specific to their chosen discipline.

Library instruction helps to improve the quality of student research, teach students the skills they need to use higher quality resources, and result in students spending less time searching for information and more time analyzing and synthesizing the information they find.

Library instruction can take on many forms:

• interactive lab sessions
• customized handouts and resource lists
• research guides added to Canvas course
• online tutorials

Arcadia’s librarians customize instruction sessions to the academic needs and schedule of an individual class. Instruction can be provided:

• in the classroom
• in a computer lab
• virtually using distance learning technology

The skills that librarians can teach students are also numerous.

• introduce basic research skills to new students
• show upper level students advanced search strategies
• review discipline-specific resources and tools
• effectively evaluate information
• discuss the importance of scholarly and peer reviewed journals
• help students learn how to cite information and avoid plagiarism

To learn more about information literacy instruction or to schedule instruction for your students, contact Melissa Correll, or reach out to your liaison librarian directly.