| Many faculty assign students academic work requiring use of the library. Assignments may vary from relatively short tasks like finding a book or one relevant article, to longer ones like retrieving statistical data or conducting extensive literature searches. It has been our privilege to work with a great number of students in such efforts, and so we encourage you to consult with us ahead of time when you intend to assign library work. Ideally contact us in the planning stages, or at least please "tip us off" that an assignment is brewing and that students will be showing up. Things should go smoother for everyone, students and librarians alike.
Whom to call? Anybody at the Reference Desk will be glad and able to confer, so just phone x6281 or click here to reach any of the principal reference librarians.
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- Schedule one of our instructional sessions for your class in advance of the assignment, especially if it is a fairly major project. Many of the librarians teach such sessions, and you may directly contact a librarian of your choice or phone or email Bruce Connolly, our Coordinator of Bibliographic Instruction, to initiate a request (x6281 or x6613). In any case, please plan in advance so we can prepare effectively as well as reserve our electronic classroom for teaching your class.
- If, for example, you tell students, "Don't use the Internet," they may later be (naturally) resistant to using the Library's online catalog and/or the academically rigorous journals and databases of peer-reviewed journals to which the College subscribes and takes delivery via the Internet. "Don't merely 'Google it' or do a Yahoo type search," would be a more precise way to phrase it, so as not to confuse students about using such essentials as the catalog, the databases, and the e-journals.
Also, clarifying for the students what is meant by "primary" vs. "secondary" sources will probably help students stay on the right track, as will explaining the distinction between "journals" (peer-reviewed) vs. "magazines" (non-scholarly).
- This is both a joy and a challenge, as we see the flourishing of title availability on the Web and are fortunate to be able to provide ever greater access. What you (or we) have pointed the students toward last term may no longer be the best tool for the job this term. Or if it is, it may not have the same title as it used to! This is further reason to consult ahead. (Phone x6281 or click here to click here to reach any of the principal reference librarians.)
- Familiarizing your students with a particular title is certainly valuable. However we have seen students sent to use particular resources when others actually would have been more effective. So if you have any hesitation about what title, online, cd-rom, or print, to recommend, please consult. (Phone x6281 or click here to click here to reach any of the principal reference librarians.)
- Whenever many students need to use the same print reference book or certain of our electronic sources, there can be frustrating logistical problems (or even damage to materials). Heading this off is quite feasible, again by consulting us ahead. (Please phone x6281 or click here to reach any of the principal reference librarians.)
- For non-reference materials, naturally, your class will be well-served if you set up readings via the Reserve Desk, the established system for accessing assigned readings in orderly fashion. Electronic reserve options are now available, and you may call x6280 (Circulation) to set up reserves for your class or for more information.
Thanks for letting us at Reference contribute a bit from the perspective of our experience working with students with academic assignments. We're looking forward to hearing from you and cooperating on library assignments!
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