Library Assignments: The Good, the Bad, and the FISHY

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Library Assignments The Good, the Bad, and the
FISHY!

• Caroline Gilson Stephanie Michel
• Radford University
• ALAO Annual Conference
• November 3, 2000

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Effective Library Assignments Can

• Teach students information seeking skills
• Offer a hands-on experience in the library
• Lay a foundation for future library success

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Sink or Swim Assignment Pitfalls

• The Scavenger Hunt
• The Swarming Mob Scene
• Go Fish
• The One that Got Away!

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Reeling Them In Improving Faculty Information
Literacy

• Information literate faculty help create
  information literate students
• Information literate faculty produce better
  library assignments

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Casting the Line How You Can Reach Faculty

• Departmental meetings
• One-on-one discussions
• Campus-wide events
• Campus publications
• Web site
• Online tutorial

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Luring Them In How We Have Reached Radford U.
Faculty

• Our Turn Workshops
• Electronic Information Workshops
• Departmental Meetings in the Library
• Working one-on-one with faculty
• Faculty attendance at course-related instruction
  sessions
• Highlander Guide

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Once Theyre Hooked Some Final Thoughts

• Keep a sense of HUMOR!
• Offer Praise Encouragement
• Evaluate
• Pre and post tests
• Completion of assignment
• End of the semester

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Give a man a fish you have fed him for today.
Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a
lifetime.--Author Unknown
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Contact Information

• Caroline Gilson
• cgilson_at_radford.edu
• Stephanie Michel
• smichel_at_radford.edu