Guidelines for Effective Library Assignments
Effective library research assignments promote students' learning of subject content while also fostering lifelong information literacy and critical thinking skills. The following guidelines were developed to help instructors design effective library-based assignments.
Effective library research assignments:
Are designed in consultation with librarians
Librarians are experts on information sources, how to conduct library research and student research skills and attitudes. They can help you identify potential strengths and weaknesses in your proposed research assignment.
Are accompanied by library instruction near the time the assignment is given or due.
Do not assume that your students have had prior training in how to do college-level research. Although many are proficient in searching the web, most lack basic library research skills. We have found students to be most receptive to library instruction that is delivered near the time the assignment is given or due. Avoid scheduling a library instruction sessions in September for papers due in November.
Have clear objectives.
You need to clarify to yourself, your students, and the librarians what the purpose of each library-research assignment is. If students view library research assignments as "pointless" busy work, they will resent the assignments - and the library research process.
Use resources other than the Internet.
Students are often unaware of information available only in print or in library databases. Not all information is on the Internet. In fact much of the information on the web is outdated and inaccurate. However, your students may not know this. Students will often do all their research on the Internet unless you tell them that they cannot.
Direct students to various topics and resources, rather than a single topic or source.
Asking all students to research one topic, or to consult one source in their research, makes plagiarism easier. Students can not only copy from their classmates, but the sort of broad topics (e.g., the legalization of marijuana or the death penalty debate) that could be assigned to an entire class are easily obtained through online research paper web sites.
Include accurate and complete citations when students are referred to a specific source.
Sometimes your most important instructional objective is that students read and become familiar with certain material. If so, give students all the information they will need to locate that material within the library. The citations to the material should be complete and correct including author, complete title, publication information, and call number and location in library. Give this information to students in writing.
Place all items that every student must look at on reserve at the Library.
When every student in a class has to look at the same book or article, you want to ensure that every student really has an equal opportunity to access the item. Students have been known to hide or mutilate materials so that their classmates cannot use them, or to get out of doing an assignment by telling the instructor that the library no longer had the materials. The last student to work on a project should have the same opportunity to get at resources as the first student who did so. The best way to ensure equal accessibility is to put materials on reserve in the library (contact Shari Bromfield at (610) 646-4178 for more information)
Avoid library scavenger hunts.
Students find them frustrating and librarians end up doing all the work. Asking students to find obscure information in the library is not an effective way to promote library research skills because it does not mimic how real library research is conducted.
Are pre-tested to see whether they will work.
Before giving any research assignment to your students, try to complete it yourself using only the resources and services that are available to your students. Were key resources sometimes not found on the shelf? Were some key sources already checked out? Did the library really own as many resources on the topic as you thought they would? How long did it take? Expect students to have a much harder time completing the assignment.
Make use of appropriate and current resources.
The sources available for doing library research are constantly changing. Sources that were in print when faculty were in school are probably electronic now. Sources that were electronic last year have probably changed their search options or resource coverage within the past year. Do not ask students to learn a source in a particular format simply because that was the way you learned it.
