Library Research Instruction Program

Schedule a Library Research Instruction session for your class

From term paper to thesis, the Library Research Instruction Program helps connect student and faculty researchers with the information they need.

Students and other researchers who take advantage of these services become empowered to ask better research questions and can employ a better range of strategies and skills to answer them. Library research instruction adds value to your classes by helping make your research assignments more robust and effective.

Librarians will work with you and your students on research strategies and on making the best use of library collections, services and research resources.

Who We Reach

  • Undergraduates
  • English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students
  • Graduate students
  • Faculty

What We Teach

  • Advanced search strategies and techniques to identify relevant research material.
  • How to assess sources for currency, relevancy, authority and scholarly value.
  • How to assess the reliability and appropriateness of information found on the Web.
  • How to use Zotero or RefWorks to manage citations and bibliographies.
  • How to identify specialized materials such as primary sources, government documents, statistics, multimedia and archival sources.
  • First-year students learn about academic integrity and basic research skills by completing the required Scholarly Research & Academic Integrity tutorial.
  • Faculty may schedule in-depth instruction to introduce students to the many research databases, specialized sources and techniques for making research more effective and efficient.

Online Guides and Tutorials

Library research guides serve as starting points by organizing library resources by topic. Brief tutorials explain what these resources include and how to search them. You may wish to link to these guides and tutorials from your course’s Canvas website.

Course-Related Instruction Sessions

  • For undergraduate or graduate classes.
  • Students are introduced to relevant research materials for a specific course assignment.
  • Librarians outline the research process, demonstrate the Library's discovery platorm (HoyaSearch), databases and relevant Internet resources. They can even create an online course guide tailored to your assignment.
  • Students get hands-on practice using these resources in the Dubin Memorial Classroom.
  • Faculty members: Click here for more information or to schedule a library instruction session. Sessions are most effective when held during class time, with the faculty member present, and after students have received and begun thinking about a research assignment. Two weeks’ notice is required.

Graduate Seminars

  • Scheduled with graduate department coordinators for the start of the school year.
  • New graduate students learn about library services and key research tools of their disciplines.
  • To schedule a graduate seminar, contact Sandy Hussey.

EFL Student Instruction

Contact School of Continuing Studies Downtown Campus Library for more information.

Research Consultations

  • Undergraduates, graduate students or faculty may make an appointment to discuss a research topic, develop a search strategy, or examine resources relevant to a paper or project.
  • Librarians offer an overview of and in-depth assistance with important resources for senior or master's theses, dissertations, papers and other types of research.
  • Click here to schedule a Research Consultation.

Faculty Consultations

Your liaison librarian can work with you to develop more effective research assignments and better integrate library resources into your classes and your students’ lives. Explore our complete list of library liaisons arranged by subject.