Welcome!  This research guide has been created to provide more information about your WRT 104 or 106 library session, which aims to teach your students how to locate, access, and evaluate sources for their research. If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to a librarian.  Learn more about how to contact a librarian here: Reference & Research Help.

The theme of our library instruction session is learning to be a resilient researcher.  The session has three student learning objectives. By the end of the session, your students will be able to...

• Demonstrate flexibility and resilience in your research by adjusting search strategies based on initial results.
• Find credible sources using relevant keywords from a research question.
• Apply the CRAAP test to evaluate the currency, relevance, and authority of a selected source.

During your 50-minute session, a library instructor will model how to conduct keyword searches (free search) in Academic Search Complete and how to evaluate sources using the CRAAP test, providing students with time to practice finding and evaluating their own sources using their own research questions.  

We'll be using a collaborative Google Spreadsheet for students to track their research progress during library instruction, and a link to this spreadsheet will be shared with you in a read-only format following your session.

WRT instructor attendance is mandatory during their class sessions. Students may have questions about their assignments and requirements that library instructors are unable to answer, so we do require that you attend your library instruction session with your students.

There are a lot of ways that you can prepare your students for the session so that they can take as much as possible from their time in the library.  Here are a few of the best ways to prepare your students:

• Encourage them to have at least a draft of their research question or thesis statement so that they can start looking for relevant, reliable resources.  If students do not have research questions yet: provide them with the sample research questions in the PDF below and ask that they select one to work with during our library session prior to our session.
• Inform your students that they will have time to actively search for and evaluate sources.
• Encourage your students to begin watching the InfoRhode tutorials so that they can begin familiarizing themselves with our exciting tools and resources.
• Would your students benefit from further brainstorming? Ask them to complete the pre-class concept mapping activity linked below as a PDF.

Check out these other guides to find additional information.