Library Instruction for English Research

These lessons are offered cafeteria-style, meaning you can schedule any combination of these lessons, depending on your students' needs and your available class time. Instruction requests must be submitted at least seven days in advance. 

To ensure the continued success of our English instruction program with our current librarian Instruction Team staffing, we are adjusting the number of in-person sessions available and adding more online options to supplement in-person instruction. We will now only offer one face-to-face session per section with a librarian per semester, supported by multiple online modules and digital materials. The face-to-face session will continue to provide different options to accommodate your needs. Please see below for the session options.

If your class meets in a computer lab classroom or at a satellite campus, we are happy to visit your regular classroom. If you'd like us to provide this service, please contact the Instruction Coordinator directly.

Topic Development: 20-minute session

This session will help students to select a researchable topic for their Research Paper (and the scaffolded assignments that lead up to that paper). Students will also begin to develop research questions and select search terms that can help them to research their topics. 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, students will be able to:

• Create and refine researchable topics.
• Develop research questions from their research topics.
• Select search terms that best define their research topics.

Instruction Materials

Librarians will use this lesson plan and presentation to teach your workshop. 

Search Tools & Databases: 30-minute session

This session will teach students to use various search tools to find information sources for their research. Students will also learn to identify source types and learn more about using search terms to search library databases.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, students will be able to:

• Select an appropriate search tool to fill an information need.
• Navigate Fulton Library’s OneSearch and ProQuest databases.
• Identify how and where to get help when they have questions about the research process and/or using library resources.

Instruction Materials

Librarians will use this lesson plan and presentation to teach your workshop. 

Students should watch the Searching for Articles in OneSearch video (below) before this session. 

Source Evaluation: 20-minute session

This session will teach students how to identify and evaluate different source types for use in their research. Students will learn to distinguish between source types, fact-check their chosen sources, and recognize their own authority in scholarly conversations. 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, students will be able to:

• Distinguish between popular, scholarly, and data sources.
• Model source evaluation within the context of a research need.

Instruction Materials

Librarians will use this lesson plan and presentation to teach your workshop.

Guided Research: Half Class Period (20-30 minute session)

The Guided Research session is meant to give your students an opportunity to practice finding sources in library databases. This is intended to be combined with another module (We recommend Search Tools & Databases). 

Note: Students should already have topics and be at least a little familiar with search tools. This session is recommended for assignments that require students to find multiple sources on a topic.  

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, students will be able to:

• Select appropriate search terms to describe their research need.
• Navigate Fulton Library’s OneSearch and ProQuest databases.
• Find information sources on their topics.

Instruction Materials

Librarians will use this presentation and activity (currently being updated) to teach your workshop. The activity will be completed by each student using a file on the lab desktops, which can then be saved by the student and emailed to their professor.

If your students have not yet watched the Searching for Articles in OneSearch video (below), please assign it to them before the Guided Research session.