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Are designed in consultation with
librar Librarians are experts on information sources and information research processes, as well as upon students' information research skills and attitudes. They can help you identify potential strengths and problem areas in proposed research assignments. |
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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 doing college-level research, or that searching the Web will give them the skills they need. They need training and practice in library- and information-research skills. They are also most receptive to training delivered near the time a research assignment is given or due. Avoid scheduling library instruction sessions in September for papers that will be assigned in November. |
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Have clear objectives. You need to clarify to yourself, your students, and the librarians what the purpose of each library- and information-research assignment is. If students view library research assignments as "pointless" busy work, they will resent the assignments - and the library research process. |
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Give clear directions. Students do not always understand what you mean when you given them directions about what steps to take or what sources to consult in doing research. For example, simply saying "no Internet resources" makes students wonder whether library databases accessed over the Internet are also forbidden. |
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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, nor does the Internet always provide the most recent information. Your students may not know this, though. Students are often unlikely to use sources other than the Internet unless you require them to do so. |
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Direct students to various possible 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., changes in U.S. foreign policy after the end of the Cold War or women in Shakespeare) that could be assigned to an entire class are also well represented in online term paper mills. |
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Include
accurate, 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 point of this exercise should not be overcoming great difficulties in getting to the reading material! The citations to the material should be complete and correct - giving author, title, publication information, and - if possible - call number and location within the library. Give this information to students in writing. You cannot expect to tell them this information and have them note it correctly: a student once went looking for a book titled Oranges and Peaches after an instructor verbally directed him to the Origin of Species. |
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Place
items that every student must look at on Reserve. 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. |
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Avoid scavenger hunts. Students find these frustrating, and librarians
end up doing the work. Asking students to find little bits of data on various topics is not an effective way to promote library research skills. Most students do not have the research skills to do more than find resources relating to broad topics. They lack the familiarity with information sources to find, easily or quickly, pieces of information from almanacs, handbooks, statistical sources, etc. Librarians end up finding these bits of data for students, with students learning little or nothing from the process. Students also often lack the knowledge and skills to synthesize any meaning from these random bits of information once they are found. |
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Are pre-tested to see whether there are adequate information resources
– and what difficulties students may have in accessing them. Before giving any research assignment to your students, try to complete it yourself using only the library resources and services that are available to your students. Were key resources sometimes not to be found on the shelf? Were key sources 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 encounter at least two times as many difficulties as you did - and to take at least twice as long to complete the assignment. |
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Make use of appropriate, current resources – not just those learned
when professors were students. The sources available for doing research are changing rapidly in the Internet Age. 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. Rather, have a purpose in mind when asking students to use a source in a particular format. What does, for example, requiring the students to use the print version of the Reader's Guide accomplish that using the electronic version would not? |
