UCLA College Library Services for Instructors

Effective Library/Research-Based Assignments

Please review this list of suggestions on ways to create effective library assignments. Research-based assignments, especially complex ones, work best when instructors and librarians work together.

Design your assignment so that students are asked to find information and use it in a meaningful way, applying information not just retrieving facts, constructing meaning not just regurgitating it.

Define the task clearly and identify any sources students should or should not use.

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Work through the assignment yourself, even if you're just revising an old assignment, making sure that the assignment does what you want it to and that the library has the resources you're requiring students to use.

Give students a copy of the assignment, which, if you have very specific requirements, includes a list of resources you'd like them to consult.

Place materials on reserve if students have to use the same resource. (This is not true for reference books since they do not circulate.)

Schedule a course-related instruction session or discuss the assignment with the College Library Information Literacy Instruction Coordinator if your assignment is particularly complex.

Give students enough time to complete the assignment successfully. Remind students that even under the best circumstances, research takes time.

Encourage students to consult a librarian at the reference desk or use the “Ask a Librarian” service if they need assistance.

Contact the Information Literacy Instruction Coordinator if, in the course of your students' assignment, you need to clarify something with the librarians or if your students are experiencing a problem that we can solve.

Common Problems in Library Assignments

Avoiding these typical problems in library assignments will make your students' library experience less frustrating and more enjoyable.

Don't give a large class the same exact assignment. Students may have trouble accessing the materials.

Don't use an incomplete or inaccurate name when referring to a source. For example, don't tell your students to use Standard & Poor's since S&P publishes many well-known reference books. Be more specific by asking them to use Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys.

Don't require a source that the library doesn't own.

Don't give students hard-to-answer trivia questions since librarians usually have to give students the answers.

Don't give students a generic assignment out of a handbook or textbook, unless you check to make sure it works ahead of time.

About those Internet and World Wide Web Sources. . .

At the reference desk, we often hear students say that they aren't allowed to use Internet or Web sources. Many users don't realize that many very reputable sources are available full-text via the Web. In fact, some very scholarly journals are available only on the Web and not in print. The UCLA Library subscribes not only to certain full-text databases like Science Direct and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe but also to scholarly ejournals. You may need to stress the difference between the resources the Libraries subscribe to and "free" Web and Internet Sources. Visit the UCLA Library home page for access to our subscription resources.

[Adapted from Bowling Green State]