Information Services Department librarians are available to teach a variety of topics for classes and groups.
Library instruction courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your class or group. Based on your selections in the Library Instruction Request Form, a library staff member will work with you to design a program.
- Library instruction classes are available both in-person and online.
- Library instruction course are usually scheduled in 1-hour blocks, but they can be shorter or longer based on your needs or time available.
These are some of the common topics covered in library instruction courses:
- Basic Library Orientation
- Learn about the many services and collections available at the Lyman Beecher Brooks Library.
- Library Catalog Searching
- How to perform basic searches and locate items using the library catalog and WorldCat Discovery.
- Database Searching
- How to use the A-Z Database List and an overview of the individual features and characteristics of resources specific to your area of study.
- Recommended Resources
- An overview of several recommended resources tailored to your course, assignment, or subject.
- These can by physical resources in the library, eBooks, databases, and more.
- Research Strategy
- How to organize your research strategy for everything from a single assignment to a capstone project or dissertation.
- Scholarly Resources
- How to identify scholarly resources and ways to limit searches to only peer-reviewed content.
- Resource Evaluation
- How to critically evaluate resources, identify bias, and apply frameworks such as ABCD, CCOW, COR, CRAAP, and SIFT.
- Advanced Research
- How to build a search string using advanced search fields, operators, and controlled vocabularies.
- How to use the advanced tools available in a specific database or other resource.
- Getting started with reference management software.
If you would like instruction on a topic not listed above, please let us know on your Library Instruction Request Form and we will work with you to develop a class to meet your needs.