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Library Instruction

About this guide

This guide will provide you with an introduction to information literacy instruction services provided by our library staff. On this guide, you can request library instruction through our form and find information about benefits & different instruction options offered for your course. 

If you have any questions about the information in this guide, you can ask your library liaison or connect with a librarian on the research help page.

Benefits of information literacy instruction

Contributes to Student Retention 

Literature shows that library instruction contributes to retention and persistence, particularly for students in first-year experience courses and programs.¹

Raises Grades & Quality of Research 

Students who receive library instruction as part of their courses achieve higher grades and demonstrate better information literacy competencies than students who do not receive course-related library instruction.¹

Reduces Student Anxiety & Barriers

Library instruction has been shown to reduce student anxiety with using the library resources and increase confidence with the research process. Once they've been in the library and interacted with a librarian, they feel more comfortable asking for help when they need it.²

¹ Association of College and Research Libraries. (2016). "Documented library contributions to student learning and success: Building evidence with team-based assessment in action campus projects (K. Brown & K. Malenfant, Comps.). Association of College and Research.  https://hdl.handle.net/11213/17184

² Fleming-May, R. A., Mays, R., & Radom, R. (2015). "I never had to use the library in high school": A library instruction program for at-risk students. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 15(3), 433-456. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2015.0038