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Information for Faculty: Library Instruction

Teaching with the Library Faculty

What We Teach

During a live instruction session, librarians can provide a focused lesson on one of these learning outcomes or touch on a few of them more briefly:

  • Search the SU Libraries catalog using title, author, and keywords.
  • Search 1-2 specialized databases.
  • Brainstorm research topics.
  • Track the literature by finding sources from a list of references.
  • Evaluate source credibility and authority.
  • Distinguish between primary and secondary sources.
  • Identify peer-reviewed and scholarly sources.
  • Cite sources and avoid plagiarism.

How We Teach

In addition to live class sessions, librarians can provide asynchronous instruction by:

  • Publishing an online research guide tailored to your specific course or assignment;
  • Creating a video or interactive tutorial to walk students through a process;
  • Participating in a Canvas discussion;
  • Assisting with adding library resources to your Canvas course;
  • Collaborating with you to design new research assignments.

Contact Us

We're happy to explore new ways of teaching with you. Please use the research instruction request form to tell us what you have in mind.

planning for student success

Try the assignment yourself.

Completing your own assignment using resources available at Shenandoah can help you discover potential stumbling blocks for your students.

Our Research Basics guide can help students understand stages of the research process.

Librarians can help resolve problems and identify useful resources in the collections. Be sure to contact us if you would like the library to purchase materials to support your course.

Specify the types of resources students may use.

Some of your students may be totally unfamiliar with scholarly sources, so clear communication about your expectations is crucial to their success. Our customizable source evaluation assignments (below) can help them understand the characteristics of scholarly journal articles.

Explain the value of documenting sources.

Creating properly formatted citations in various styles is easier than ever, but many students have never considered the real purpose and value of citations. Our interactive tutorial can help.

Sample Source Evaluation Assignments

Consider assigning one or more of the scaffolded activities below to encourage an inquiry-based approach to engaging with sources.

Please contact Aimee Gee with questions about using or adapting one of these activities or to suggest something new.