LibGuides: Creating Effective Library Assignments: A Guide for CEs and IDs: Library-Related Assignments

Best Practices for Library-Related Assignment Design

If you are requiring students to use library resources for an assignment, consider the following:

Assume minimal library knowledge. Students do get a library orientation in ORG 100, ORG 300, and ORG 502. But, don't expect that orientation to be relevant to your assignment or disciplinary resources.

Check resource availability. Resources may change from year to year or term to term. This library may not have exactly what other libraries have. It is always good to test an assignment.

Be specific. Refer to the databases and other information resources by name (examples include Business Source Complete, ABI/Inform, LexisNexis, and American FactFinder). If the assignment requires the use of specific resources, give students a list.

Do the assignment. Put yourself in the students' shoes with their experience and perspective. See how long it takes to to the assignment. Add time and more directions to accommodate research inexperience, availability of resources, and other factors novice researchers could experience.

Consult with a librarian. Reference help is available via 24/7 chat service, email, phone, and research consultations for students, faculty, CEs and IDs.

checkmark image Request a Research Guide. Research guides can provide students with additional guidance such as suggested resources, effective search strategies, methods for evaluating materials, and more. Research guides must be requested at least one month before they can be implemented into a course.

Course guides will have a direct url which may be shared with students and will be listed in the Course Guides section of the library web site. The library will use submitted criteria to build a custom guide and then send for approval before making public.

Request a Research Guide

Alternative Library-Related Assignment Ideas

Community of Online Research Assignments: Created under CC, just adopt and cite!

Locate a popular magazine article, then find a scholarly article on the same subject. Compare the two articles for content, style, bias, audience, etc.
Select a topic and compare how that topic is treated in two to five different sources.
Read an editorial and find facts to support it.
Create a resource guide on a narrow topic relevant to the course. Include meta sites, e-journals, discussion lists, and organizations.
Select a scholar/researcher in a field of study and explore that person's career and ideas. Have students locate biographical information, a bibliography of writings, and analyze the reaction of the scholarly community to the researcher's work.
Assemble background information on a company or organization in preparation for an interview.
Follow a piece of legislation through Congress. Use this exercise to explore critical issues through a disciplinary lens and follow the politics of a particular issue.
Update an existing bibliography or review of the literature.
Each student in the class is given responsibility for dealing with a part of the subject of the course. He or she is then asked to 1) find out what the major reference sources on the subject are; 2) find out "who's doing what where" in the field; 3) list three major unresolved questions about the subject; 4) prepare a presentation to introduce this aspect of the subject to the class.

* Ideas from the University of Puget Sound