- Be very clear about your objectives for the library
research assignment
.
What do you expect students to learn from your library
research assignment,
and how do these objectives fit in with your course
objectives?
- Assume your students have a variety of levels of
experience doing research and using the library.
Do they know the difference between
primary and secondary
sources? Between journals and magazines?
- Define your terms precisely.
Students take their instructors very literally. If you
tell them they can’t use the web, what does
that mean? Since many of the Library’s bibliographic databases
are accessed via the web, some students tell
librarians that they can't use them because they can't use
"web" resources. Similarly, does "library computer" mean the
Library
Catalog, electronic periodical indexes, or the
Internet?
- Check to make sure the Library has the resources you are
assigning your students to use.
If you tell your students to use a particular source,
that is what they will look for. If you are using a title as
an example of a resource they can use, tell them that - that
it's just an example, not required that they consult that
one particular resource. Our Library may not have sources that you have used in other
libraries. It’s a good idea to try to do the assignment
yourself to see if the Library has adequate resources to
support it.
- Have your students choose from a variety of topics.
This will give your students a better chance at finding
the books and articles they will need, since they will not
be competing for the same sources.
- Help your students through the assignment as a process.
Students rarely understand (or appreciate) that doing research takes
time. Often they will wait until the last minute, when the
resources they need have already been checked out or taken
off the shelf by someone
else. Use these steps to build students’ research
skills: Pace the assignment. Ask the students to turn things in
along the way, maybe an annotated bibliography of the sources they
plan to use, an outline of their proposed essay, and so
on. That way
you can ensure they are using the types of sources you want
them to, and they will have the time to do better work.
- Make use of the e-Reserve system.
If your students do have to use a particular library
source, put it on e-Reserve so that it will be there for
everyone to use.
- Discuss issues of plagiarism and copyright with your
students.
Many students do not understand when to document and when
not to.
- If you would like them to document in a specific style,
be very clear about what that style is.
Do you want them to use MLA or
APA, or can they use more
general citation resources, with the emphasis on being
consistent. Make sure they understand that electronic
sources also have to be cited; most style handbooks now
include sections on citing electronic resources.
- Schedule a research instruction session with your
subject bibliographer.
Library resources are changing all the time. It’s
difficult even for librarians to keep up with all the new
resources. If you bring your students into the Library for
an instruction session with a librarian, they and you will
learn the newest resources that will be most helpful for
your students in
their research.
- Send a copy of your assignment to your
subject bibliographer, who will make sure reference
librarians know about it, too.
That way, the librarians will be ready to help your
students when they come in to do their research. Also, students
often don’t bring a copy of the assignment with
them when they come to the Library; if we have a copy of
it, we have a better understanding of what they need to
look for.
