The Library is a key partner for those who teach. University of Delaware librarians collaborate with faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants to design and deliver instruction for students on a wide range of concepts and skills. Library instruction encompasses much more than just “how to use the library”. Some of the more common concepts librarian colleagues cover in academic classes include:
- Scholarly vocabulary and keywords
- Developing a research topic
- Critical analysis of media
- Assessing information sources
- Research organization and management
- Creating multimedia
- Introduction to discipline-specific sources
- How to conduct a literature review
- Designing assignments with primary sources
- Considering intellectual property
You can find out more at the Library Instruction web site.
Stephanie Kerschbaum, Associate Professor of English, collaborated with librarians on an assignment for her English 110 class. Her students investigated research questions pertaining to the St. Thomas Cemetery on Delaware Avenue in Newark, Delaware. Students wrote research papers on this topic and created short videos of their research. Students were instructed on library resources pertaining to local history as well as genealogy, and on the elements of multimedia production, including storyboarding, video equipment and video editing. Stephanie writes, “Truth be told, I could not have done this assignment without the [Student Multimedia Design Center] and I think these skills are really important to teach students, so I’m incredibly appreciative and thankful. I definitely plan to make use of the Student Multimedia Design Center in future assignments.”
In consultation with Special Collections librarians, Kristen Poole, Professor in the department of English designed a semester-long project for her ENGL468 class that allowed students to acquire a new understanding of historical inquiry. Students used Special Collections materials to analyze early printed editions of the histories that Shakespeare used as source texts for his own plays. Special Collections librarians provided class sessions in which students analyzed rare books as a group. Each student conducted individual research using early-printed books from Special Collections. See the product of the students’ research in the class website! Of the collaboration, Dr. Poole noted, “My students came into Special collections with one relationship to history and left with a different understanding. The experience of working with sixteenth-century texts gave them a new appreciation not just of that particular time period, but of the vagaries of constructing history in the first place.”
To request an instruction session or to consult with a librarian about your class’s needs, please complete and submit the Library Instruction request form.
