Megan Dempsey, English Dept. Library Liaison

Megan Dempsey, English Dept. Library Liaison [email protected]; ext. 8412; office L116

Library Homepage - http://library.raritanval.edu

 Information Literacy Program – 80 minute research session in English Composition I and English Composition II

o Taught in the library classroom by a librarian

o Schedule now! Popular class times/weeks in the semester fill quickly

o Most effective to have instruction during the weeks students are working on the research paper

 To request instruction – Faculty/Staff tab, under Course Tools, select Request Information Literacy Instruction

 Article databases available at http://library.raritanval.edu/databases or by selecting Databases on homepage

o Academic Search Complete; Proquest Central; JSTOR

o CQ Researcher; Points of View Reference Center; Credo Reference

o Literature Resource Center; Bloom’s Literary Reference

 Information Literacy Tutorials are getting a makeover! New webpage should be available by mid-September

 For MLA Citation page – Students tab, under Research Help, Works Cited Help link

 Selection of textbooks on reserve – students can check out for 2 hours to be used in library only

 One-on-one research consultations with a librarian are available. Students can contact me directly or sign up on our webpage.

 All of our website URL’s can be copied and pasted directly into your Lion’s Den/WebStudy course page or an email. I can also provide URL’s for specific databases.

 To embed a librarian in an online course, contact Alyssa Valenti, [email protected].

Three suggestions for Information Literacy Instruction Success!

1: Require students to select topics before your library session Instruction is most meaningful for students when they are invested in the topic and working towards a goal. If your session occurs before the research paper is assigned, consider giving a mini-assignment for which they must identify topics; for example, have them pick a topic related to a recent reading and find two sources. Or, ask them to bring their most recent in/out of class essay and use that as the basis for a topic during instruction.

2: Communicate with your librarian instructor Although we follow a standard curriculum, we like to tailor examples and activities to your assignment and your students’ needs. Share your assignment sheet with the librarian so s/he knows exactly what the expectations are. Let us know where the class is in the research process (they just got the assignment, they’ve already started researching on their own, they have an annotated bib due next week, etc). 3. Follow up in class/hold students accountable for the session Some faculty assign a small percentage of the research paper or course grade for attending the library session. Some give a short quiz on the information in the next class session. Some require students to bring a scholarly article source to the next class session. We know it’s all about the grade; students who are held accountable for the information literacy session will pay closer attention and retain more of what they learned.

Have a great semester!

English Composition II English Composition I Students will be able to:

Students will be able to: 1. Think critically about a research topic by identifying relevant disciplines/subject areas and potential sources of information that may 1. Identify search terms relevant to research topic by be appropriate for the topic (including books). (ACRL Standard 1) brainstorming synonyms, broader terms, specific terms, and using resources to identify new terms (texts, reference sources, etc). (ACRL 2. Find articles in subject-specific databases by applying prior Standard 2) knowledge of multi-disciplinary databases and exploring features of new interfaces. (ACRL Standard 2) 2. Use the library catalog and databases to select and access resources by keyword searching. (ACRL Standard 2) 3. Expand their research in a discipline by using bibliographies or citations to find additional materials. (ACRL Standard 2) 3. Evaluate search results to determine relevance to topic by identifying and understanding citation elements. (ACRL Standard 3) 4. Select the most appropriate source(s) by recognizing and describing various aspects of a source that may impact its value for the 4. Search for and identify scholarly articles by understanding specific research project. (ACRL Standard 3) features of a peer-reviewed article and how to narrow database search results. (ACRL Standards 2/3)

Focus of instruction: Focus of instruction:  Introduction to subject-specific databases

 Selecting appropriate keywords  Using subject headings and limiters in databases to refine search results  Finding information to fill in the gaps in their knowledge on the topic; finding background and general overview information  Greater emphasis on evaluating sources

 Understanding source types, especially scholarly articles  Advanced search strategies and database specific techniques

 Using RVOneSearch to find a variety of sources, including book sources  Preparation for research in upper level courses that require use of and scholarly articles specialized databases and an understanding of common features across databases  Using tools in databases to obtain MLA citations