FACULTY
ASSISTANCE
Designing Effective Library Assignment
This page gives suggestions for research assignments that require
the use of the Rice Library's collection and services. Course-related
library assignments are useful in introducing students to the library
in a positive way.
Why
your students should do the assignment
- Do
you want your students to become acquainted with key resources in
your subject area? Do you want them to do the groundwork for a term
project or research paper? What do you want your students to do
with the information once they have found it?
- Stating
the objectives of your assignment helps your students understand
what they will learn as a result of the assignment and how this
will help them in the long run.
- Focus
the assignment on the process of finding information that explains
a phenomenon, clarifies a viewpoint, or defines an issue.
- Design
your assignment so that students are asked to find information and
use it in a meaningful way. Applying information and constructing
meaning, not just retrieving facts, will mean more to students in
the long run.
How
your students will do the assignment
- Research
strategies often seem obvious to the experienced researcher, but
are generally unknown to undergraduate students. Discussing these
strategies with your students will help them understand that research
is a complex and demanding process.
- A
research strategy is an appropriate step-by-step method for organizing
a research project. It takes into account the kinds of information
needed, the corresponding resources that should be used, and the
need for evaluation of these resources.
Providing
students with resources lists
Resource lists give students a starting point by suggesting
specific sources (or types of resources) for a particular assignment.
Providing accurate details is crucial.
The Instructional
Services Librarian would be pleased to help you compile a list of
appropriate resources held by the Rice Library.
- Alternatives
to the traditional research paper
- Annotated
bibliographies
- Comprehensive
book reviews
- Identify
key issues or scholars in a discipline
- Compare
a popular magazine article and a scholarly journal article on the
same topic
- Compare
the way two different disciplines handle the same topic
- Analyze
a key publication in a discipline
How
and When to use Internet and World Wide Web resources
At the Reference Desk, we often hear students say that they are not
allowed to use Internet or Web sources for an assignment. Some library
users do not realize that many high quality sources are available
via the World Wide Web. For example, many of the same peer-reviewed
journals found on our library's shelves are also available in full
text on the Web. The David L. Rice Library subscribes to various electronic
databases, just as it subscribes to print journals.
The Web
is simply a different medium used to access these materials. If you
are concerned that your students will use "free" Web sites
for their research, please note that the subscription databases paid
for by the library are far from free. The Library's subscription databases
provide quality information that is much easier to find and more reliable
than the hit-or-miss Web searching students often do.
We do
not, however, encourage students to use the Web as their only source
for an assignment. If the Web is the best means to find the information
required by your assignment, it may be helpful to provide your students
with recommended sites, lists of expert links, or subject specific
directories to help them find reliable and authoritative information.
The sections of the Library's homepage titled "Research Guides"
and "Beyond the Library" contain subject specific and topic
oriented links that have been critically evaluated and provide a good
starting point for Web site research.
If you
have concerns about your students' use of the Web for research purposes,
Library Instructional Services would be pleased to speak to your class
on the importance of evaluating Web sources.
Pitfalls
to avoid:
