Faculty Services: Information Literacy Program

Come to the library:  Our classroom has 16 computers and room for as many as 20 students to sit relatively comfortably.  Having students come in to the library gives them a chance to work hands on with our electronic resources and to pick up print resources immediately. 

Class Visit (in person or Zoom):  We come to you.  If you have a computer classroom, students can use web based resources hands on.  If you have a large class (over 25) in a conventional classroom this may be the only practical option.  Librarians demonstrate where students can find our resources and how to use them.  We can and have taught library sessions at Hyannis, Plymouth and other satellite campuses!

Research Guide: Send your students to an existing Research Guide or ask us to create one for your class.  

Moodle:  Librarians can be added to your Moodle page, allowing them to post content that supports your assignments.  

Contact us at least a week before your proposed date so that we can plan ahead and make sure that the library classroom and staff are available-the earlier, the better.  We teach library sessions any time the library is open.  

Schedule your class session with your Departmental Liaison today!

The ACRL defined Information Literacy as the ability to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."  To further this goal, the staff of the Wilkens Library use several methods to instruct students. 

• One-on-One instruction at the Reference Desk and in consultations:  While it's not possible to reach every student this way, librarians always seek to educate students while helping them conduct research, use our resources, and check citations.  

• Research Guides:   Wilkens Library Research Guides play a supporting role to an in-class session, but they can also support an online course, a general information need or as a place students can find appropriate information sources for research assignments.  

• Library Instruction Sessions (Single):  Librarians can come to your class, come to your Zoom, or you can bring your students to the library.  In some cases we cover individual resources; in others we give the students an overview of recommended library and other sources for a given assignment. 

• ENL101:  We recommend that every ENL101 (Composition 1) class bring their students to two Information Literacy Instruction classes.  ENL101 was chosen because it is one of the most common prerequisites and one of the most commonly taken courses, allowing us to reach as many students as possible.  If your assignments require students to find journal articles or other scholarly resources and your class doesn't have an ENL101 prerequisite, they may need additional guidance.

• Health Sciences Information Literacy Program: The CNA, Dental Hygiene and Nursing programs all have integrated Information Literacy components.  We also see some of the Medical Assisting and Medical Terminology students