Do students only google? – add library training into curriculum
Where to search beyond Google? Are only web pages referenced in bibliographies? Is information seeking included into your curriculum? What about reference management?
Curriculums for the next two academic years (2018-2020) are currently being created at the University of Turku. Now is a good time to ensure that study skills beyond googling are included into the curriculum.
”This has not been taught anywhere else”
Information seeking and management skills - in other words, information literacy (IL) - is of great help for students. However, research skills related to finding, accessing and managing relevant scholarly resources are easily overlooked in the curriculums of many faculties and departments.
The library offers information literacy training free of charge and tailored to the group’s wishes. If IL instruction is not yet integrated into your subject curriculum, do not hesitate to contact us! Especially for students starting their bachelor’s or master’s thesis the library education is essential.
”This could have been earlier… ”
IL education provided at the right time and to the right extent will benefit both teachers and students. In library education students will learn skills ranging from how to borrow the first course book to how to find material for the master’s thesis.
Often however, students struggle with independent information seeking even at the master’s thesis level. The challenge is to find an appropriate time for library instruction and to integrate it to other studies efficiently. It is recommended to focus on the appropriate timing, because too often students feel that the library training was offered at a wrong stage of studies: in the worst case, the student has already submitted the thesis for approval.
”Thanks! I only wish the teacher also attended”
Having the subject teacher in the library training helps to make it more effective. In this way, the teacher will have a more concrete idea of the student’ topics and the students will get help both from the information specialist and from the subject specialist.
Trainings on database searching have been found more useful at the beginning of a methods course or a thesis seminar. On the other hand, reference management trainings are most beneficial when students have already gathered some source materials.
Take a stand now!
Every student has an equal right to effective study skills. Now is a good time to also integrate library skills training into the curriculum in order to ensure that library education will help students provide cumulative experiences in information seeking and management.
More information:
Head of Library Services Heli Kokkinen
Chief Information Specialist Leena Järveläinen
Library training
Direct quotes from the student feedback on library training