Librarians will do whatever is possible to help your students with their research projects. Options include:
To schedule library instruction, email the librarian account (librarian@sunyacc.edu)
Asynchronous Sessions
Synchronous Sessions
At least a week before your scheduled session:
Review the assignment with your students before the library session, and provide these to the librarian scheduled to lead your session.
In class the week before the session:
During the session:
- We start on time. Plan to start promptly at the normal class time, to respect those who are show up on time, whether it's a Zoom or in-person class. For an in-person class, bring the class to the circulation desk to meet the librarian.
- The instructor is an active participant in the class, answering questions, clarifying assignment questions and topics, and assisting students during the practice periods in class. Students see you as a role model. Please do not correct papers, use your phone, read, chat while the librarian is talking, or occupy a classroom computer to do your own personal research.
- Remind students to take notes. They should bring their assignment, topics, and note-taking material to class.
- Thwart discipline problems in class. Inappropriate classroom behavior includes any actions decreasing the librarian’s ability to teach effectively or preventing other students from learning. This includes those who talk, text or use a computer when the librarian is teaching or otherwise creating learning distractions.
- Learn along with students about the always-changing resources for your discipline, for your own use as well as to help students and create the best assignments.
- Grade students on their participation and actions during this session. When it’s tied to a grade, students pay stricter attention, interact more readily, and learn more.
- Learning to research involves practice. Remind students that they probably don't "already know all this" because they visited the library before.
These guidelines have been developed by the instruction librarian as a result of 30 years of commonly-seen classroom behaviors. Your students' research efforts will be more successful as a result, and you’ll enjoy their papers more!
We strongly recommend trying to complete your own research assignment before giving it to students. To develop or review an assignment for accuracy and feasibility, email the librarian account (librarian@sunyacc.edu).
SUNY Adirondack Library’s library instruction program teaches information skills to faculty, students and staff. The concept is more broadly known as information literacy. It is defined as:
- knowing when information is needed,
- knowing how to find information,
- evaluating the information using critical thinking skills,
- using the information appropriately in an ethical and legal manner, and
- communicating the information effectively in various formats.
The U.S. Department of Labor, SUNY, college re-accreditation organizations such as Middle States and other key agencies state that strong information literacy skills are increasingly required for success in education, careers and life. The ability to find and use information well, to solve everyday problems and educate oneself, is an invaluable life-long skill.
By collaborating with librarians, faculty can ensure that students will be better prepared for the future in a rapidly changing, information-driven world.
This one-credit course further develops college-level research skills. It is offered in the spring semester, taught by a SUNY Adirondack librarian.