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Faculty Guide to Library & Archives Services

Information Literacy Instruction

INFORMATION LITERACY INSTRUCTION: 

Librarians in the Research, Teaching & Learning division provide information literacy instruction and research support (via Personal Research Sessions and other methods) for courses across the curriculum.

While an instruction session and/or research consultations alone will not satisfy the College's new Information Literacy Competency, librarians are happy to work with you as information literacy experts to support course development in this area. 

We encourage you to explore the following tabs to learn more about our information literacy instruction program and the options available -- or, contact Jennifer Whelan (jwhelan@holycross.edu) or your department librarian! 

WHY INFORMATION LITERACY? 

Would you like your students to write better papers and use higher quality resources in their research?
While many Holy Cross students report confidence in their research skills, the HEDS Research Practices Survey results indicate that they often lack the skills necessary to conduct research at the college level:

  • 45% did not realize that a personal web page is a less appropriate source than a book published by a university press, an encyclopedia, or an academic journal article. 
  • Only 38% realized that sources like Time and Newsweek are not scholarly.
  • When asked about ways to refine and expand their searches for locating relevant resources, many students had little knowledge about how to construct effective searches.
  • Many students could not identify if a given citation was for a book, book chapter, or journal article.

What we can do:

  • Provide a customized library instruction session for your class.
  • Create an online library research guide, tailored for your students’ research needs. 
  • Meet with your students individually to discuss their research, as part of the library’s Personal Research Session Program.
  • Help you design a research assignment that engages students with a wide range of library resources.

For more information about ways that we can provide research and instructional services for your classes, contact your department's librarian.

WHAT DOES INSTRUCTION INVOLVE?

Some topics we frequently cover include: 

  • Academic integrity
  • Distinguishing between scholarly journal articles and articles from popular publications
  • Evaluating the quality and credibility of sources
  • Library services, like interlibrary loan
  • Search strategies -- from CrossSearch to discipline-specific tools
  • Citing sources properly
  • How to locate and use primary and secondary sources
  • Evaluating and/or ethically using AI 

Specific examples from previous semesters: 

  • Guiding students in locating images, books, and articles about Day of the Dead altar construction so that groups of students could construct their own altars; 
  • Three sessions focused on different aspects of the research process: Choosing a topic, research techniques, and analyzing resources; 
  • A workshop on locating primary and secondary sources supporting different sides of a topic for a class debate
  • An introduction to working with scholarly articles and where to find them, paired with required Personal Research Sessions in which students had to locate an academic article to supplement class reading/discussion for a given week. 

 

However, we are always happy to work with you to customize something beyond these options for your course! 

Instruction & Research Partners

ARCHIVES & DISTINCTIVE COLLECTIONS

Our colleagues in Archives & Distinctive Collections are delighted to work with faculty and students to incorporate archival collections into course instruction and research. Archives instruction sessions provide an opportunity to introduce students to the archives and their unique collections, as well as to build primary source and archival literacy skills.  

The Archives & Distinctive Collections are located on the 3rd floor of Dinand Library. For more information, contact archives@holycross.edu or submit a request for archives instruction. 

ACADEMIC SERVICES & LEARNING RESOURCES

The Office of Academic Services & Learning Resources (ASLR) provides a range of academic supports for students, including tutoring, skills workshops, and class visits. Librarians and ASLR staff regularly cross-refer students and collaborate on other initiatives. 

ASLR is located on the 2nd floor of Dinand Library. For more information about academic supports offered, visit the Office of Academic Services & Learning Resources website. 

CENTER FOR WRITING 

In addition to hosting the Writer's Workshop, the Center for Writing offers a variety of services geared at supporting faculty in their teaching and research, including in-class workshops on topics relating to writing and communication. Librarians and Center for Writing staff regularly cross-refer students and collaborate on a variety of other initiatives, including the popular Citation Frustration Stations held during exam periods. 

The Center for Writing and Writer's Workshop are located on the 2nd floor of Dinand Library. For more information and support with writing-related instruction, visit the Center for Writing website or contact centerforwriting@holycross.edu.

LEARNING DESIGN & DIGITAL MEDIA SERVICES

The Learning Design and Digital Media Services teams visit classes and provide training for web site design, digital imaging, video editing, geographic information systems, statistical software, and Google Apps. They can also provide individual support for students. 

Librarians communicate frequently with our colleagues in these offices and are always happy to collaborate with them in supporting your student projects! 

For more information and support with using GIS technology, SPSS, R, Panopto, Photoshop, course design, and more, contact the Learning Design Team or the Digital Media Services team. 

CROSSWORKS

CrossWorks is an Open Access publishing service of the Holy Cross Libraries. As the institutional repository of the College, CrossWorks provides permanent and global access to scholarly and creative works produced by members of the Holy Cross community.

For more information, visit http://crossworks.holycross.edu and/or contact crossworks@holycross.edu.