Memo

To: Preceptors Date: September 4, 2000

From: Bruce Connolly

RE: Freshman Preceptorial Library Instruction – Fall Term

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Its pretty fascinating to come back (after having taken a Winter/Spring sabbatical) and get re-acclimated to all the changes that have taken place over the past few months here. There’s a redesigned Library Home Page, an upgraded version of the Web Catalog, a new FirstSearch interface, new database subscriptions including JSTOR and Web of Science, plus new services like the scanning/printing workstation in the Reference Area. Aside from demonstrating how dynamic Union’s information environment has become, all these changes reaffirm the importance of our efforts to instruct freshmen in the effective use of the many resources we now offer to the serious student researcher.

We will be following the same basic approach adopted a three years ago, which entails inviting Preceptorial students into the building to tour the facility and work with the various resources–the Web Catalog, electronic databases, and Internet resources–that they will be employing over the next four years.

We have essentially abandoned the skills exercise that long-time Preceptors may remember. I’ve always preferred making direct contact with students, and especially first-year students, because I think that it’s extremely important that someone from the Library make a sincere effort to persuade them early on that we are here to help them, and I can’t think of a better way to begin to establish this important relationship. This approach also makes it much easier to explore the process of information gathering and focus on the critical thinking skills that lifelong learners require, which is the purpose of the program. We seem to have arrived at a format that engages student interest and produces a satisfying level of interaction.

Options for scheduling a session in the Library would include:

• Monday—Wednesday—Friday during your regular Preceptorial class time,
• On any day when you might otherwise need to cancel a class, or
• At some other time when your class as a whole can get together.

Please take a look at the enclosed schedule to see if there is a time when we can arrange an orientation and instruction session for your class and then return the sheet or contact me (x6281 or connollb@union.edu ) once you have a date in mind.

I do understand that, for a variety of reasons, coming to the Library may not be an option for all of you. For those of you who end up not arranging for your classes to visit the building, the Library instruction component will look like this:

Personal Academic Website Design Exercise

Students will design on paper a Web page that will meet their personal academic needs for their major, a particular course, or an individual intellectual interest. This will give students a Library experience that is significantly more challenging than the previous skills exercise, while still requiring that they demonstrate a familiarity with the Library Home Page, reference materials (print and electronic), online databases, and Internet resources. Those who choose this option will be required only to lay out their design on paper, but some may ultimately take this to the next step and produce a functional personal Web site that they can use in their own work. They may model their sites after the Schaffer Library Research Guides or The Freshman Preceptorial Website (both found under the Electronic Resources option on the Library Home Page) or develop something unique. I will be available for consultation during my Thursday evening reference shift.