Who We Are

View a list of departmental faculty here.

Faculty at Meriam Library seek to lead the campus in the instruction of practices and tools designed for effective and efficient academic research. Faculty at Meriam Library believe that students have greater success during and after their collegiate experience when they are literate in the evaluation, construction, and synthesis of the information available to them.  The following Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) provide specific, measurable goals for our information literacy instruction.

We believe an information literate student will:

  1. Determine appropriate sources for a specific information need.
  2. Effectively discover and locate information sources.
  3. Critically evaluate information sources in context of a specific information need.
  4. Effectively synthesize information sources.
  5. Articulate the social and ethical aspects of information creation and use.

The Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Libraries Association, defines information literacy as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.”1 Faculty in Research, Instruction, and Outreach follow this definition and the ACRL information literacy framework in designing classroom curriculum.

Schedule Research Instruction

    Information Literacy Curricula

    Samples of assignments and curricula authored and co-authored by faculty at the Meriam Library are available for download: Library Curricula.

    Course-Integrated Instruction

    Faculty at Meriam Library work with instructors to infuse information literacy and library research concepts into courses across the campus.

    Library faculty can assist with:

    • Creating exercises and assignment in information literacy
    • In-class instruction on research principles and practices
    • Curating research guides for a specific course or assignment
    • Online tutorials tied to specific assignment or concepts
    • Embedding information literacy into the curriculum

    Why Research Instruction

    Students in research instruction classes are introduced to the library’s online and physical resources and are given hands-on practice in tools designed to help them locate, evaluate, synthesize, and cite materials used in their college research. Additional subjects include defining a topic, creating relevant keywords, writing a research question, preparing a literature review, writing entries for annotated bibliographies, tips on reading academic articles, and more

    With the goal of providing them a consistent and predictable path to library research, students at the end of a research instruction session will be able to search for information and locate materials online, within the library stacks, and from sources outside the library.

    Faculty benefit from research instruction in that, by off-loading information literacy instruction and the demystification of academic expectations to classes taught by library faculty, they are freed to focus their time with students more directly on course curriculum. Research instruction ensures that faculty can maintain their expectations for students to arrive prepared with the academic skills needed for successful research at the college level.

    Courses that incorporate research instruction include ENG 130, UNIV 101 & 105, POLS 155, AGR 180, BADM 101, and CMST 131.

    Campus Partnerships

    Faculty provide information literacy instruction to programs and groups across campus, including:

     

    1 “Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.” 2000. Association of College & Research Libraries. [08-02-2017]