Teaching and Learning Services

Librarians work with faculty and instructors in every discipline to teach and provide information literacy learning resources to students. Studies show that information literacy instruction is most effective when it is integrated into a course with a specific assignment to complete, so our instruction program emphasizes close integration with faculty and assignments. Librarians do this through In-Person Instruction that is customized for a specific course and/or through Online Instructional Materials via the creation of web-based tutorials and research guides that students can navigate on their own.  Online materials can be completed in preparation for an in-class workshop, as review, or as a stand-alone module. 

Faculty and instructors may invite a librarian to teach one or more sessions in their classrooms or in one of the several computer lab classrooms in the Library’s Learning Commons. Faculty and instructors may also, if applicable, request instruction that makes use of the Library’s Archives and Special Collections. Students will learn to maximize their information seeking skills and to effectively use and evaluate relevant print and electronic resources.

Librarians work with instructors to ensure that each session is tailored to the subject of their course, to their specific assignment, and to the needs of their students. Librarians can also help instructors design an effective research assignment that introduces their students to the most useful, practical, and easily accessible resources.

To request a library instruction session for your class, contact your subject librarian. To request library instruction for your Critical Thinking & Writing (CTW) course, contact the CTW Instruction Coordinator, Gail Gradowski at ggradowski@scu.edu or 408.554.5438.

Librarians can provide online instructional materials as either a compliment to in-class instruction or as a stand-alone online component. Librarians can design specialized online guides and tutorials to embed in their Camino course page so students can learn about the Library and its resources in their own time and at their own pace or to reinforce material covered in class.  Some examples include:

• Sample Tutorial: Finding Sources for Film
• Sample LibGuide: HIST 11A & 12A: The Imperial West