Public Services Department: Research and Instruction Mission
The Public Services Department's Research and Instruction primary aim is to provide students with library research skills necessary to attain their academic goals and prepare them for lifelong learning. Students are taught through point-of-use reference interactions, course-related library instruction, and web-based tutorials. The department supports the University's strong tradition of education by selecting, developing, and managing information resources to support the present and future programs of the university. As part of our commitment to public service and community engagement, our services and resources are made available to the Wabash Valley, the nation and the world. https://library.indstate.edu/about/units/reference/mission.html
Instruction Services
Research and Instruction is committed to helping people make sense of library-based and Internet-based research and information searching. The Library is committed to the ideal of an information literate campus and community. https://library.indstate.edu/about/units/instruction/liohome.html
Library instruction, or information literacy/information fluency, etc. is a broad topic. We have broken it down into key component parts. Use the descriptions found here to decide your choice, then move to the drop-down/sub-pages to find core information. This might include links to documents, links to e-books or e-book chapters, core documents that provide guidance from the Association of College and Research Libraries, and links to other research guides [LibGuides].
What is a basic introduction to "The Library"? Does it mean the Cunningham Memorial Library building? Do students need a 'tour'-based approach? What about just how to look up a book? Does the intro need to include a 'tour' of online resources? How about how to locate: bathrooms, lactation room, campus printers, microfilm reader/printers, scanners? Identify library faculty and staff?
The research process differs from goal to goal, whether the framework is a research/writing assignment, searching for general/background information, etc. The important mindset that is often missing is even thinking about this activity as having a process. This section will outline several possibilities including the basic process as represented by the Library Research Planner. It will contain some sample assignment excerpts from past courses.
Research guides are a topic-based way to find out what libraries have to offer the researcher. Using the Springshare platform common to hundreds of libraries, researchers can search by specific topic, skill, or tool/app. LibGuides homepage has a search function. We usually only use the Subject Guide search function. Once you enter your search terms, note that the following page will require you to change from results in the A-Z Database List to LibGuides.
Librarians are - or should be - full partners in the educational experience. This means working within the curriculum to support programs, courses, teachers, and students to help build academic and lifelong resource searching, finding and use. Ideally this would include assistance in incorporating information skills and processes into courses, using research guides [LibGuides], populating Course Management Systems {Canvas} with relevant resources, skill-building apps such as APA Academic Writer {APA}.
At the ISU Library, Research and Instruction Librarians are the central resource. Identify the librarian you need by using the Schedule a Librarian Consultation form, which will help you identify the correct librarian.
Do you want to incorporate elements within the broad category of information literacy skills and process throughout your course or are you looking for a simple, brief moment in time with a librarian?
Learn more specifics about how librarians help teachers and students in this section. See sample communiques to students.
When designing assignments, many teachers will include a scoring rubric. Too often left out of the criteria are
Have intermediate deadlines for students and score those/give feedback.
Think about going beyond a rubric with a "Resource Quality Grid" that clearly lays out not only the types of resources you want but also good/better/best.
Standard Research Paper? How many types of outputs are there? by Discipline? by Profession? Does your department/program have a standardized definition list; e.g. is one teacher's 'research paper' another teacher's 'essay'?
Available list of Types of Academic Writing [first developed 2007; PDF currently located HERE [note: original document had 2 columns, one for Types and one entitled "How Librarians/Libraries Can Help" - a lot of the items in this column have to do with Outputs. I will sort thru those and see what I can add to the By Output section.]
As with all lists like this, these are just a handful of the titles out there. This list is currently limited to e-books.
Teaching research processes : the faculty role in the development of skilled student researchers {ebook central interface}
Academic library impact : improving practice and essential areas to research , Connaway, Lynn Silipigni. Association of College and Research Libraries, 2017. {ebook central interface}
Experiential library : transforming academic and research libraries through the power of experiential learning, McDonnell, Pete. Chandos Publishing [imprint of Elsevier], 2017. {ebook central interface}
International Survey of Research University Faculty: Evaluation of the Academic Library. Primary Research Group Staff. Primary Research Group, 2017. {ebook central interface}
Oxford guide to library research {4th edition}. Mann, Thomas. Oxford University Press, 2015. {available Ebsco and ProQuest platforms}
Qualitative Research and the Modern Library. Goodman, Valeda Dent. Chandos Publishing, 2011. {available Ebsco and ProQuest platforms}
