Library Departments Reference Assignments

Assignments that require students to utilize a variety of information resources are useful to their overall development of critical thinking and research skills.  A well-developed library related assignment can be an excellent way for students to learn about a particular topic and helps to prepare them to be lifelong learners.   

• Collaborate with a librarian.
  The collaboration between an instructor and a librarian can result in very effective and useful assignments. 
• Check to make sure the materials are available.
  Check the library catalog and homepage to make sure we still have the resource you have required in the past.  Things can be misplaced and some resources may change names when we get them from new vendors, which could lead to confusion for the students.
• Prepare your students.

  Schedule a library instruction session for your students.  If you do not feel that you have time for a library instruction session during your regularly scheduled class time, schedule an out of class session that students may attend for extra credit.

• Give a copy of your assignment to a reference librarian.
  The reference team will be better prepared to help your students if we have advance knowledge of the assignment.  Librarians may also be able to catch potential difficulties your students may encounter with the assignment before students actually begin working on it.
• Encourage students to ask for help. 
  Students may not feel comfortable asking for help or think that it is "cheating" in some way.  

• Assuming the students know the basics.

  Even in upper level courses, some students may not have a competency with the fundamentals of library research.  It would be easy to believe that because students have computer skills and so many library resources are accessed electronically that students will easily be able to use the resources.  While students may be able to log on to the library web page, and even get some results, they often do poor searches and choose the most easily accessible resources.  Students may have never had to use Library of Congress classification and may not be able to retrieve a book from the stacks that they find in the online catalog and many students are uncomfortable asking for help.

• Scavenger hunts. 

  While scavenger hunts seem like a good idea in theory, librarians have seen the problems with this type of assignment for years.  While you might think that students will enjoy the “thrill of the hunt” that is rarely what actually occurs.  Often, these assignments ask a group of students to locate specific items, which may be in use at the time.  Students who are able to complete the assignment often have difficulty applying the hunt to subsequent information needs.

• Give incomplete or inaccurate citations.
  It is not uncommon for a database, journal or other information resource to change names.  When creating an assignment that requires use of a particular resource, be sure that you are using the right name and terminology. 
• Give the exact same assignment to the entire class.

  When a class of students all begin looking for information on the same topic, needed resources become difficult to find.  This can lead to students ripping pages out of journals, “hiding” a particular book in the wrong area of the library, and overall frustration.  If an assignment requires students to use the same set of resources, please place them on reserve for your class.

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