The Bibliographic
Instruction program is designed to offer
instruction for students, faculty and
all other library users in all aspects
of the library research process.
Included is instruction on how to
choose, focus and narrow a topic for
research, how to plan, organize, and
execute research strategy, how to locate
and use information resources, and how
to evaluate the usefulness and
reliability of information resources.
Bibliographic instruction is available
for both faculty and students, on both
the undergraduate and graduate level,
for both introductory and advanced level
classes. Instruction is also offered on
an individual basis.
II. Services
To accomplish these
objectives, the library has established
a number of programs for the CNR
community. The first of these is the
introduction to the library that all CNR
students are provided as part of the
orientation program. Students are given
an overview of the services offered by
Gill Library, are introduced to the
library homepage, and are taken on a
tour of the library.
The library conducts
bibliographic instruction classes,
including general introductory overviews
of information resources and full-text
online databases. Also included are
specialized instruction on print
abstracts and online databases in
specific subject fields. The new
Bibliographic Instruction Room on the
main campus is equipped with computer
workstations so that students can get
hands on experience in searching the
various resources and databases that are
being presented. This room is equipped
for features for future expansion toward
distance learning to include the branch
campus libraries.
In addition to new
student orientation and bibliographic
instruction classes, the library
provides two other programs to
facilitate efficient patron use of the
available resources. One of these is the
Hands on Help program. Students, faculty
and staff can ask to schedule a
one-on-one tutorial with a librarian.
The patron indicates their specific
research needs prior to the session, and
the librarian is then able to provide a
research strategy tailored to the
patron’s individual project.
As a
cooperative effort with Learning
Support Services and Academic
Computing, the Library has for the
past two semesters offered a
Research Paper Workshop for
interested students. This program
provides students with a
step-by-step description of how to
complete a research paper
assignment. The Library welcomes
suggestions from students, faculty
and staff regarding additional
workshops that they would like to
see offered either at the main
campus or at the branch campuses.
The library provides
handouts that give detailed
instructions on how to search the
library's online subscription
databases. This information is
provided in print form and on the
library homepage.
