Aerial view of campus with Williamsport, the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Mountain as a backdrop

Snowden Library for Faculty

What is library instruction?

  • A partnership between classroom and library.
  • Formal instruction to your class by a librarian using a workshop format.
  • A classroom instructor and librarian working together to develop an information assignment or series of assignments.
  • Snowden Library's Instructional Services Librarians are uniquely positioned to collaborate with faculty to provide information literacy instruction in the classroom. If you would like to schedule a class with a librarian, please contact Doss Hill.          

What is the value of library instruction?

  • Creates an opportunity to integrate information with the course content so that information tasks are woven throughout the duration of the course;
  • Promotes life-long information literacy in each individual student;
  • Acquaints students in each discipline with the unique body of information within their field;
  • Provides thorough, point-of-use instruction for students as they begin an assignment;
  • Provides students with an active classroom experience in the library, emphasizing hands-on activities;
  • Creates ladder learning for students in which library instructional approaches are used in increasingly sophisticated ways as the student continues through the college curriculum, especially within a discipline.

Research and Information Competencies

The faculty of Lycoming College affirm research and information competencies across the curriculum that will encourage Lycoming students to formulate and refine questions; to begin the discovery process; to differentiate between types of sources and their relevance; to evaluate the quality and suitability of information; to cite and synthesize diverse information; and to appreciate how a body of knowledge grows in a specific discipline.

These research and information competencies foster students' skills in specific ways:

  1. INQUIRE EFFECTIVELY- Students shape their inquiry to find and use appropriate information. As their skills advance, students come to view research as an iterative process that begins with a question that they refine and generate into new questions, thus contributing to the ongoing dialogue.
  2. SEARCH STRATEGICALLY - Students become aware of various information resources available in diverse media and learn a range of search techniques. As their skills advance, students adapt their search strategies to select the tools and techniques most appropriate to their purpose for writing.
  3. SELECT APPROPRIATE SOURCES - In an oversaturated information environment, students evaluate information sources critically, selecting authoritative and relevant sources rather than the most convenient. As their skills advance, students come to appreciate that authority is nuanced and that cross-referencing information encourages reliability.
  4. RECOGNIZE THE VALUE OF INFORMATION - Students come to appreciate the skills, time, and effort needed to compose reliable information. Students come to value information as they learn how scholars create it. As their skills advance, students demonstrate respect for the intellectual and monetary value of information through proper citation and responsible information use.
  5. APPRECIATE HOW KNOWLEDGE IS BUILT - Students recognize that scholars often create knowledge by building on one another's work through synthesis and by communicating through various media. As their skills advance, students develop their own voices and authority and come to view their research products as new information sources that may contribute to a body of knowledge. Students recognize that audience, medium, and purpose affect how a text is written, read, and understood.

Designing an Effective Information Literacy Assignment

  • Reach out to a librarian. The librarians can make sure students will have access to the appropriate resources for your assignment and can assist in teaching students how to access, evaluate, and acquire said resources. We can help incorporate the Research and Information Competencies into your assignments.
  • Ask students to use a variety of resources. Students will need to be familiar with the various methods that scholars use to communicate with each other and the world, including books, peer reviewed academic journals, and newspapers. 
  • Scaffold the research process by assigning check points. Having students turn in an annotated bibliography or an outline of their argument before the final assignment is due provides formative assessment for you. It also helps students break down the research process and not rush the final product.

You can find great examples of information literacy assignments at Loyola Marymount University's William H. Hannon Library's guide. 

Plagiarism

  • The Snowden librarians are eager to participate in the fight against intentional plagiarism on our campus as well as educating our students to avoid accidental plagiarism.
  • Please see the plagiarism tutorial the library has prepared.
  • We would also be happy to include this in a library instruction session or come to your classroom to discuss this issue with your students in person.
  • We also maintain the Turnitin.com software, which can detect plagiarism. Please contact Elisabeth Davis if you have any questions regarding this product.

Additional Resources & Services