First Year English Library Instruction Opportunities

This library session will focus on using library databases to find and access resources. It is possible to tailor this session to the course instructor’s specific paper requirements.

Questions to consider:

• Will all students be addressing the same specific theme, e.g. human nature? If so, we can put together a session that directs students to resources that address only your chosen theme.
• Will you allow your students to use a combination of scholarly and non-scholarly resources?
• Will you allow your students to use multi-media sources?
• Will you allow students to use sources found on the free web (not in library databases)?

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• Differentiate between the content indexed in a library catalog, a library database, and the free web in order to select a research tool which will retrieve desired resources.
• Decipher a database record in order to locate materials through UT Arlington Library.
• Construct basic search strategies in order to retrieve accurate and relevant materials.

This session is for classes that have already attended the Finding Resources session. Rather than the librarian providing instructional content, students will use the library’s computer classroom to work on their papers. The librarian will assist students with narrowing their topic, research, and citation. The course instructor will be available to answer students’ questions about writing or assignment expectations. 

This session will focus on the importance of evaluating resources.  Students will learn how to evaluate different resources effectively. This includes applying the CRAAP test to information that they find: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. 

Students will be presented with scenarios that represent common quandries about intellectual property and information use. Working in small groups, they must determine whether the situation represents ethical use of information. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• Identify and summarize the economic, legal, and social standards for information use.
• Identify and consider the ethical context for information use.
• Identify and assess the consequences for unethical information use.

Working in groups, students will identify sources by type (journal, magazine, web site, etc.) and compete to correctly complete the Works Cited entries for each source provided.  Class discussion will focus on the mechanics of MLA style Works Cited pages and, if time permits, parenthetical citation.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• Identify, locate, and arrange necessary publication information in order to accurately cite a source using MLA style.