Information Literacy Program

Program instruction addresses the needs of all community populations, while highlighting those beyond the first year. This includes but is not limited to, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduate students, returning adults, distance learners, faculty, and staff.

Three components feed the instruction of community members for success in their research endeavors:

All undergraduate and graduate years focus on instruction sessions or tools created to assist students with coursework/assignments.

They are...

• Requested by and created in collaboration with faculty
• Created for a specific audience, field of study, course, or assignment
• Scheduled during class time or offered as separate sessions outside of class
• Offered in a variety of formats: orientation/library tours, in-class sessions, or online sessions through tutorials or video platforms

Research Guides are an instructional tool created in collaboration with faculty members by the library liaison to assist in conducting research. Department and specific course/assignment guides provide guidance for research through the identification of the best resources in the field.

They…

• Explain library processes and procedures
• Instruct on research concepts or processes
• Outline the resources for a course project
• Can be specific to a community population

Hours of service are provided while classes are running, with questions being fielded during semester breaks via email tickets notifying staff of a request for assistance. In support of instruction, we provide 47.5 hours a week of reference services via text, chat, email, and face-to-face interactions.

Each School has been assigned an information services librarian for the purpose of collection development, research assistance, and information literacy instruction. These relationships allow librarians to work with individual faculty members and assist the library in acquiring appropriate resources for the library collection. This collaboration is instrumental in designing information literacy instruction for all levels of students.

The Library Liaison...

• Serves as a department's primary contact
• Collaborates with faculty in planning instruction for the students that will foster critical thinking, information literacy, and lifelong learning skills
• Assists with ordering books for the library collection to support courses
• Offers in-depth assistance with library resources through consultations to students writing theses or major papers
• Keeps faculty up-to-date on new services and resources
• Responds to feedback from the department about the collection and other library concerns