Instructional Services Program
Course-Related Instruction | Faculty Office Consultations | Memorial Library LibGuides | Library Classroom Guidelines | Library Instruction Scheduling Form (Faculty)
Reference librarians at Berry are happy to provide instruction for you and for your students in the use of research resources. Our instructional services program has several components. Please review these notes to select options best suited to your needs.
New Student Orientation (BCC 099/100)
New student library orientations offer...
- a 50-minute session designed to introduce new freshmen and transfers to the library through an activity-based assignment
- a brief walking tour of the physical facility and discussion of basic library policies
- brief demonstrations of the on-line catalog and general database searching
- a brief introduction to identifying and locating journal holdings
- a way to reduce students' fears and anxiety about library research and encourage interaction with librarians
New student library orientations are not...
- magic solutions providing your students with all they need to know about research
- in-depth introductions to specialized resources for a particular field of study
- an opportunity for information retrieval skills mastery
Course-related library instruction is the most effective opportunity we have to work with you and your students together to ensure that Berry students will leave as information literate graduates who are capable of finding, analyzing, and using information effectively in their personal and professional lives.
Course-related instruction:
- improves a student's ability to locate, retrieve, and evaluate a variety of information resources, thus reducing frustration and improving the quality of research.
- encourages productive interaction among classroom faculty, librarians, and students. Collection strengths and weaknesses are more easily detected and addressed in the context of actual course assignments.
- allows one librarian who is familiar with your assignment to present essential information that will be needed by all students doing a particular kind of research.
- helps students better understand the importance of asking for assistance, as well as formulate better questions.
Library sessions include:
- A brief discussion of print and online resources for a given area
- Interactive demonstrations of online resources
- Supervised hands-on practice time with databases and electronic tools
- Anything else you would like! Sessions can be tailored to your needs. We can concentrate on the research process for a specific course project or concentrate on comprehensive training on a single information tool. Please indicate your needs in our instructional scheduling form.
Scheduling Your Session:
- Fill out a library instruction request form, available from the library or in your department, or:
- Use the electronic Schedule Library Instruction Form, or:
- Call Martha Reynolds at ext. 1705 or Som Linthicum at ext. 4093.
Requests are honored on a first-come, first-serve basis, and should be made at least three weeks prior to the presentation to give librarians enough time to develop appropriate instructional materials.
Students are more receptive to a serious presentation on information resources if it is scheduled to coincide with their time of need, i.e., the point in the semester at which they actually begin work on the assignment requiring research.
Instructional Services Policies
- The library does not schedule instructional sessions unless the classroom faculty member can attend. Your students will be better motivated and receive more complete advice concerning course expectations and information resources if you are present.
- Unless other arrangements are more appropriate for your class, all instruction sessions are held in the library classroom, which is equipped with computer-projection equipment and a network connection.
Faculty Consultations are an opportunity for one-on-one in-depth training and instruction from a reference librarian, either in the library or at your office workstation. Sessions may focus on a specific database or information service being used by your students, or on information-retrieval tools required for your research but not used in your classroom.
Simply call Martha Reynolds (x1705) or Som Linthicum (ext. 4093) to schedule an appointment.
For additional information on any aspect of Memorial Library's instructional services program, contact:
Martha Reynolds
Head of Public and Instructional Services
Memorial Library
Berry College
Mount Berry, GA 30149
Phone: (706) 236-1705
Email: mareynolds@berry.edu |
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