In-person, Virtual, and Hybrid Instruction

Librarians can conduct instruction sessions remotely/virtually and in-person. The Library is fully able to support remote, online, and dual delivery classes, both synchronously and asynchronously and in-person classes. Your librarian will discuss options with you including Zoom guest lectures, tutorials, course guides, librarian integration into Moodle, and more. Please consult with your Subject liaison librarian.

Purchase College Library offers course-integrated information literacy workshops where learning outcomes are tailored specifically to the research needs of each classes’ project at the time of the session. Our workshop model provides instructors with the option of collaborating with librarians across multiple modalities, including in-person workshops in the instructor’s classroom or online instruction through the requesting instructor’s preferred online platform (e.g., Moodle, Zoom). 

Librarians have found that the best sessions come from collaborative planning and communication with the course instructor. We ask that all instructors attend sessions with their students to increase classroom engagement and ensure that students have clarity about course and assignment expectations. Your presence and engagement in the classroom conveys to your students the value you place on library instruction.

To allow librarians sufficient time to tailor instructional design methods and lesson plans to the needs of each class, we ask that faculty request research workshops at least seven business days in advance of the preferred session date. When requesting sessions, please allow time for the Coordinator of Instruction to connect each session with the appropriate librarian.

In order to maximize the effectiveness of each workshop, the Library recommends the following Best Practices for Scheduling Information Literacy Instruction:

  • Information literacy instruction is most successful when the research workshop is organized specifically around the research project the students will actively be working on at the time of the session; this leads to increased engagement.
  • Information literacy instruction is most successful when students have had time to reflect on the research assignment, its requirements, and have had sufficient time to brainstorm potential approaches prior to the date of the session. Workshops where assignments are introduced to students on the day of the session can be less effective.
  • Information literacy instruction is most successful when the librarian is provided both the general course syllabus and the particular assignment the students are working on at the time of the session. This allows the librarian to situate their lesson plan within the language of the course, which has been demonstrated to maximize learning and engagement.
  • Information literacy instruction is most successful when the session is organized around a limited number of learning outcomes. This maximizes engagement and avoids cognitive overload for students. It is recommended that faculty requesting instruction collaborate with librarian to establish one or two demonstrable learning outcomes for the session and leave students enough time to practice these concepts once introduced.

Adopted from USC Libraries Instructional Services. 

To request an information literacy/research skills instruction session, please contact your Subject liaison librarian. If your discipline does not have a liaison listed, or you are not sure who to contact, please email Kim Detterbeck, Instruction Coordinator, or fill out the Library Instruction Request Form to schedule a session, workshop, or tour.