• Home /
• Faculty Support /
• Class Instruction

Class Instruction

Instructional librarians collaborate with faculty to help develop the academic research skills and confidence students need to navigate successfully the increasingly complex world of information. Your liaison librarian can work with you to help integrate information literacy objectives into your curricula, or provide one-off instructional sessions ranging from basic library orientation to advanced course-specific sessions tailored to the specific content of individual classes.

Our instruction is informed by the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, approved by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

For more information, please contact the liaison librarian for your subject area and campus.

Library Orientation

Library orientation sessions introduce first-year students to the library, and to the basic general techniques of library and information research. Individual students or groups are also welcome to contact us to book library tours.

Advanced Course-specific Sessions

Advanced course-specific sessions provide students with in-depth instruction on the information sources and research skills most relevant to a course or to a particular assignment. These sessions typically can be arranged within your class schedule, and a hands-on workshop in a computer lab may be possible. For more information, please contact the appropriate liaison librarian for your subject area and campus.

Curriculum-Integrated Information Literacy

You can contact your liaison librarian to discuss strategies for incorporating information literacy instruction in your courses. Librarians and faculty have successfully integrated information literacy objectives into the curricula of many departments and faculties.

Related Services

Librarians can also help you with your own teaching and research. The following list is just a sample of the types of assistance we routinely provide. Please contact the appropriate liaison librarian for your subject area and campus to learn more.

Assignment Consultations

We can help you build research skills development into course assignments and thus help you avoid some common assignment pitfalls that cause problems for students. You can also review our Creating Effective Library Assignments guide.

Plagiarism Checking

Despite our collective efforts in helping students become good researchers, incidents of plagiarism do occur. Sloppy plagiarism is relatively easy to detect but more skilled plagiarists can also be caught with a little more effort. Either way, we can often help you track down plagiarized sources. To learn more, check out our tutorial on Understanding & Preventing Plagiarism. Also available as downloadable PowerPoint slides.

Research Consultations

We can update you on the key article and research databases, current awareness services, or any other research tools which are important in your research area. In addition to booking an appointment with a librarian, basic individual help from both librarians and library assistants is available at each of the libraries' Research Help desks.

Departmental or Group Presentations

If a group of your colleagues are interested, we can visit a wired classroom in your department and provide you with updates on the newest electronic services and research tools which are most relevant to your specific field of research, department or Faculty. Contact your liaison librarian for more information.

Library Resources and Course Technology

Consult our guide to Creating Links to Library Material from Within your Blackboard Course, or talk to the appropriate liaison librarian for more information on integrating library resources into your Blackboard or WebCT course pages.