User Education

User Education
Contact: Prof. Monty L. McAdoo, User Education Librarian (Room 231), 814-732-1070

The library faculty offers a variety of instructional opportunities for classes, groups, and individuals wanting to learn how to access and use the library's resources and services more effectively. This page addresses some of the more commonly asked questions about user education. Our Researcher's Toolkit pages offer additional insights and tips for researchers and library users while our Faculty Services pages provide various suggestions for improving library assignments.

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What is 'information literacy?'
There are many definitions of information literacy (IL).  Baron-Forness Library follows the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education established by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). For more information on IL, please visit the ACRL's IL site for more information. In summary, the standards stipulate that an information literate individual is able to:

1. Determine the extent of information needed
2. Access the needed information effectively and efficiently
3. Evaluate information and its sources critically
4. Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base
5. Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
6. Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and access and use information ethically and legally

What instruction is available?
All user education provided by the library faculty revolves around the principles of IL as outlined above. Group instruction is geared specifically to the research assignments made by faculty or a specific need of a group of students. Typically, this takes the form of providing instruction in the use of library resources and services to identify and retrieve books, articles, and other forms of information.  It is best to work with the librarian assigned to your group to insure the presentation meets your group's needs. Individualized instruction is developed on a case-by-case basis.

What is the format of instruction?
Generally speaking, lecture is the primary mode of presentation. For single-class instruction, time constraints necessitate that the content generally be focused on providing a cursory overview of what resources are available and how best to use them for a particular assignment. More in-depth coverage and/or additional topics (e.g. evaluating magazine versus peer-reviewed articles) require subsequent classes.

What if I don’t have a specific assignment for my students?
Instruction is only scheduled when a research assignment has been made. This provides a meaningful context for the presentation. For suggestions on creating better library assignments, please call x1070 or visit our Faculty Services page.

What instruction is available?
Because classes are developed around the specific needs of students and/or the assignments they receive, content will vary from class to class. However, because so much of research is now computer-dependent, 10-15 minutes of every class must necessarily deal with various computing issues (e.g. printing, logging-in/-out). The following table summarizes the types of instruction we typically provide and should be used as a starting point for coordinating the instruction to be provided. Times and content descriptions should be considered minimums.

FOCUS	LENGTH	DESCRIPTION
Computer Basics	~10 mins.	Various computing issues affecting research typically encountered by students such as print quota, saving/retrieving files to/from the S:/ drive, and logging-in/-out are incorporated into every session.
Books	~15 mins.	Discussion of PILOT (i.e. the library's catalog) revolves around a simple search for books and other items owned by the library followed by a brief discussion of availability, call numbers, and item locations.
Articles	~25 mins.	Typically, the database most suited to the assignment is demonstrated. Keyword versus subject searching, full text options and availability, and some of the more advanced search options form the basis for discussion.
Internet	~20 mins.	What a search engine is and how it operates are the focus of this presentation. Comparisons of various search engines, advanced searching, and results pages are also discussed. A brief discussion of Web site evaluation can also be incorporated.
RefWorks	~20 mins.	Learn the basics of creating a bibliographic database via the importation of citation information and the manual creation of records.  The use of the Write-n-Cite plug-in for creating in-text citations and references pages will also be discussed.
Tour	~20-25 mins.	Tours of the library generally consist of a walk-through of the 1st and 2nd floors and a discussion of floors 4-7 (where the books and Archives are housed). A typical tour consists of the Reference/Circulation Desk areas, new periodicals and microforms, and bound journals and the computer labs. Please plan to spend no less than 5 minutes in each location.
Microforms	~15 mins.	A “tour” of the microforms room typically consists of an overview of why we have items on microform, how the items are organized, and how they can be accessed using the machines available. PLEASE NOTE: Classes of more than 10-15 students are problematic because of the limited amount of space and machines available.

Can I schedule a class myself?
No, but you can now submit request for instruction electronically via our Request Instruction form. As part of that process, you may wish to check the availability of the library's instruction lab on the day(s) and time(s) of your intended class. To do so:

1. Log in to your EUP Webmail account
2. Click on the SCHEDULE button in the resultant toolbar
3. Click on the SWITCH button in the resultant toolbar
4. Enter library_232 in the USERNAME box and hit ENTER.  This will enable you to view the activities scheduled in the lab

Requests are processed in the order they are received. On Friday afternoon, a schedule of classes for the following week is posted outside the lab entrance.

How many workstations are in the lab?
The library’s instruction lab has 24 student workstations. While additional seating is available, it is recommended that you call x1070 if your class has more than 24 students to see if your class could/should be split to better accommodate your students' needs.

How do I schedule a class?
All library instruction is scheduled through Prof. Monty L. McAdoo at 814-732-1070 and must be scheduled at least one week in advance. You can also submit a Request for Instruction Form. Requests made less than one week in advance of the class will be scheduled as space and librarian availability permit. You will receive confirmation via email once your class has been scheduled.

How many classes can I schedule?
To insure everyone has an opportunity to use the lab, it cannot be reserved more than three times per semester for any one section of a class.

Can I schedule the library lab for non-research types of classes?
No. Because of the sheer volume or requests that we receive from faculty and the volume of usage by students, we can no longer accept reservations for use of the lab for non-library/research related activities.

Do I need to attend with my students?
Yes. Many students (and sometimes even the librarians) have questions about the assignment. Having you present insures such questions get answered satisfactorily and that you get the most accurate information about current library resources and services.

Can I teach the class myself?
No. All classes must be taught or co-taught by a librarian. Resources and various resource features/functionality change frequently -- often without notice. To insure that your students are getting the most current, most accurate information available, we require that a librarian teach your class. Unless requested otherwise, courses are taught by the liaison librarian assigned to your department.

How late in the term can I schedule a class?
No reservations will be accepted during the last two weeks of a semester.

Is there someone to help me develop a good library assignment?
Yes. Librarians are in a unique position of being faculty and yet working directly with students as they complete their work. As such, we have unique insight into how assignments can be constructed to insure they're "doable" and achieve the objective(s) you hope to achieve. Prof. McAdoo at 814-732-1070 can assist you with ideas and suggestions of how to improve the effectiveness of your assignment.