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Library Instruction: Procedures & Guidelines

Guidelines for faculty about how to integrate research skills into courses.

Need Help?

Ask a Librarian @
Betty Sue Jessup Library

501 College Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.961.5309
reference@pvcc.edu

Embedded Librarians

The embedded librarian program adds a librarian instructor or TA to your Canvas/Canvas class site. Adding a librarian to your site ensures that students will have personalized research help and instruction throughout the duration of an assignment. This is especially useful for online courses, but it works very well in every type of course.

The librarian can

  • interact with students whenever they need help
  • teach new research skills and concepts, or reinforce what was learned in a face-to-face library session
  • answer questions (preferably in a discussion forum) about many aspects of the research process such as: topic selection, topic narrowing, thesis design, source evaluation, source integration, citations, etc.  Note that while librarians can help students with these topics, they cannot check or evaluate topics, thesis statements, sources, etc.  The student is responsible for applying the concepts to their own work; if they need extra help, the librarians will refer them to their instructor, the Writing Center, or various library resources. 

To make the embedded librarian program as effective as possible for students, please observe the following guidelines:

  1. Faculty should ensure that students interact with and seek assistance from the librarian during the research process -- mandatory interactions usually work best, as they encourage all students to participate, which is especially beneficial for at-risk students.
  2. The embedded librarian can help with multiple types of research assignments, such as short essays, full blown papers, annotated bibliographies, etc. If it requires research, we can help.
  3. The embedded librarian can check only one draft per assignment, and focus only on the References/Works Cited page. In the case of several assignments for the same course, students are expected to apply the feedback given about one assignment to subsequent assignments.
  4. The embedded librarian can answer questions about all aspects of the research process and of research mechanics. The best way to facilitate this process is to create an "Ask the Librarian" discussion forum.  NOTE: Librarians answer questions within 48 business hours, except on weekends and holidays.
  5. The embedded librarian cannot help with issues of subject matter (we will not explain concepts of history, sociology, etc.), assignment interpretation (only the instructor can do this), or composition (style, grammar, punctuation, etc.).  When students ask for help with these issues, or when the librarian believes they need this type of help, students will be referred to their instructor or the Writing Center.
  6. Please note that the library does not support citations created using Word or other citation utilities/generators, so the embedded librarian cannot help students with such citations.
  7. The librarians can only provide support with the library's own citation playbooks. When students need help with citations, the librarian will refer them to the citation playbooks and/or specific examples within them. Students are expected to use the playbooks to format their citations. The librarians can help them understand the content of the playbooks, but they cannot format citations for students.

To request an embedded librarian, please fill out this form.

 

How can embedded librarians help your students?

Jessup library front door
HOW CAN LIBRARIANS EMBEDDED IN YOUR CANVAS COURSE HELP YOUR STUDENTS?
WE CAN HELP STUDENTS FIND QUALITY SOURCES FOR THEIR RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS BY TEACHING THEM HOW TO SEARCH DATABASES EFFICIENTLY.
WE CAN TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO APPLY CRITICAL THINKING WHEN EVALUATING SOURCES FOUND ON THE WEB.
WE CAN HELP MINIMIZE RESEARCH BURNOUT BY GUIDING STUDENTS THROUGH THE STEPS OF RESEARCH.
WE CAN TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO CITE SOURCES AND HOW TO MASTER THE DIFFERENT CITATION STYLES.
EMBEDDED LIBRARIANS:  YOUR PARTNERS IN STUDENT SUCCESS