Instruction Services: Request Services

Recommendations for Faculty

For all requests, we recommend the following to help ensure an effective outcome:

• Provide a minimum advanced notice of 2 weeks, which is typically needed for the librarians to have sufficient time to prepare.
• Schedule ahead as much as possible to ensure librarian availability. 
• Provide a copy of your syllabus and assignment details to the librarian at the time instruction services are requested. This information is invaluable and will enable the librarian to review your desired student learning outcomes in preparation for the session as well as enable the librarian to better tailor the session to the students' needs for the assignment.

If requesting a live virtual instruction session, we also recommend the following:

• Schedule a session at a time when students will have their research topics or at least ideas for research topics. If students can come into a session with knowledge of the assignment and their needs, the session will be more engaging to them.
• Faculty presence & active engagement during the session. In addition to providing valuable comments, your presence and engagement encourages students to be engaged.

If requesting a Research Guide or Course Research Guide or other online instructional material, we also recommend the following:

• Allow sufficient time for creation of a web-based guide: Course Research Guide preparation may take 2 weeks to 2 months.
• Encourage your students to use the materials created.
• Embed a link to the materials in your PantherLearn course - find out how to connect with the Library in PantherLearn.
• Think about your options: We also provide online learning materials for using library resources and tutorials for areas such as research skills, academic integrity, and evaluating information sources.

If preparing or updating a course syllabus, we recommend considering the following:

• An information literacy instruction conversation with a librarian. Planning a research assignment or bibliography for your students? Ask us about options we can provide to support teaching and learning and options you have that you may not be aware of.
• A resource consultation with a librarian. Thinking about having your students use a particular resource or set of resources? Ask us about current and future availability and access, as well as the best way of linking if it's an online resource. 
• A distance/online learning conversation with a librarian if it's an online course. There are unique issues for online learners who need to do research using library resources. Consult with a librarian to avoid access issues in your online class.