Library Instruction Program
The University Libraries instruction librarians are dedicated to helping your students gain a deeper understanding of the research process and to think critically about information. We work with faculty to teach research sessions that meet the course needs.
Who We Are
The teaching team includes librarians who are responsible for library instruction support for ENG114, ENG198, ENG200, and SSC200; subject liaisons, who focus on instruction for upper level courses; and archivists and special collections librarians, who teach with collection materials.
Meet our subject liaisons, many of whom provide instruction for their related subjects.
Our Teaching Approach
We teach students how to think about information and conduct advanced research across all disciplines. We utilize active learning techniques to reinforce concepts and skills, much of which is based on the Association of College & Research Libraries' Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
We want students to think critically about research and search strategies--and we enjoy coming up with creative ways to do so. Our teaching classroom, the Collab, is designed to facilitate thinking and engagement. We also utilize technology like Kahoot, Jamboard, Google documents, and more to engage students in active learning. When appropriate, we will go back to the basics with markers, whiteboards, and directed group work.
A Sample of Our Work
We curate and create individualized course pages to support student research, from lower-level courses like CMM100 and BIZ200/201 to graduate level courses like EDU990 and everything in between. We also have guides to help students avoid plagiarism and address the basics of citing sources; find these guides and more on our research guides page.
These pages can be easily embedded on the Library component of your Isidore course page. This handout will walk you through the very simple steps.
Librarians are also adept at creating videos that cover a range of research topics, including information about signing up for a free New York Times account, using Google Scholar and Digital Object Identifiers, finding company information via Nexis Uni's Company Dossier function, and more. You can find these and other videos in our Warpwire video library (sign-in is required).
Common Academic Program and Institutional Learning Goals
Our teaching is aligned with the Common Academic Program, and we work closely with the ENG114, ENG198, ENG200, and CMM100 courses, in addition to providing support for SSC200. We can support course learning outcomes associated with just about every CAP component--for example, the Humanities Commons, Crossing Boundaries, Diversity & Social Justice, Capstone, and others.
We also support the University’s Institutional Learning Goals. Our work aligns with Scholarship, but we also support Critical Evaluation of Our Times, Diversity, Faith Traditions, and more.
Our Stories
We collaborate with faculty and instructors, teach mini-courses, create workshops for faculty and students, and more.
Librarians Heidi Gauder and Liz Graul partnered with history professor David Darrow to covert a classic research paper assignment to an interactive digital narrative.
Read more
Political science professor Jaro Bilocerkowycz’s class Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia visited an exhibit of the Marian Library’s Ukrainian Marian Collection.
Read moreInstruction Support in Marian Library, University Archives and Special Collections
The Marian Library, the U.S. Catholic Special Collections, and the University Archives and Special Collections contain materials that are unique to our Marianist, Catholic and University heritage. Librarians and archivists can work with you to schedule an instruction session if you would like to utilize their resources. Connect to the Marian Library, University Archives, or the U.S. Catholic Special Collections.