For Instructors: Effective Research - For Instructors

• Please familiarize yourself with what we have to offer. If you'd like to meet with a librarian to discuss what's available in our library, please email libref@lakelandcollege.edu or call 234-5440.
• Our resources are constantly changing. What might have worked for you in the past may not be available this semester, or we might have a new resource that could better fit your needs.
• Be careful when you limit library resources. In the library, we often hear students say, "I'm not allowed to use that" when we try to steer them to the best resource to answer their question. Depending on the topic, an e-book, database article, print book, or encyclopedia article may be the best source for the answer to their research question.

• Many students don't know how to research. Some students have no experience with libraries, and even the use of the words "catalog" and "database" confuse them.  If you would like a librarian to introduce your class to library resources, feel free to schedule a library instruction session.
• Encourage students to ask for help.  Remind students to stop by the Reference Desk for help. 

• Give clear written and verbal directions. Students often ask vague questions--it's easier to help when we can read the assignment.
• Let us know when you're visiting the library. When 20 students suddenly show up in the library with no warning, no one gets very good service. Let us know when you plan to send students to the library and we can adequately prepare for them.
• Define your terms. Librarians and subject faculty use all kinds of different jargon that may mean different things to different people. Some examples:

• Do you differentiate between library online databases and "internet sources" such as free web pages found on Google, Yahoo, etc?
• When you limit students to "books", does that include e-books? What about online databases that reprint the content of reference books?
• Do your students know the difference between "reference" and "reserve"?
• Can your students tell the difference between newspapers, magazines, and journals? If you say "journal", do you mean only peer-reviewed sources, or will trade journals or commentary publications work, too?