Welcome
Research shows that library anxiety is strongly linked to academic performance, and ASU has an especially complex library system. With over eight library locations, 50-plus librarians and archivists, and more than 700 online databases, students often report feeling overwhelmed or lost. Many students are unsure how to begin or what is expected when it comes to college-level research, especially when faced with an overwhelming amount of information and the challenges of finding and evaluating online sources.
For upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, research demands become more complex. Library instruction at these levels supports students in learning how to utilize subject-specific databases, refine their search strategies and engage with scholarly conversations in their field of study. Partnering with an ASU librarian for information literacy instruction helps students at any level build confidence, develop essential research skills and feel better prepared for academic work.
Information literacy program
The ASU Library information literacy program is designed to aid in the development of course materials and content, promote critical thinking and engagement, and help students build research and source evaluation skills.
Program goals
- Teach learners how to navigate library services and systems and how to find, evaluate and use a wide range of sources.
- Foster learners’ confidence and agency in navigating, questioning and contributing to the scholarly information environment.
- Help learners recognize the moral, economic and political forces that shape how knowledge is produced, shared and accessed.
- Empower learners to recognize and challenge inequities within information systems and structures of knowledge production.
- Challenge learners to reflect critically on how they seek, trust, share and use information in academic and everyday contexts.
Sessions to enhance your class
As a faculty member, you can collaborate with our librarians to reinforce and deepen the information literacy concepts you already teach, with librarians contributing their expertise in navigating complex information systems. Our instruction sessions can be held in your classroom, the library or online. We provide the options below:
Instructional design and multimedia
- Collaborate with librarians and instructional designers to develop assignments, activities and more.
- Develop course-specific Library guides and other digital learning resources.
- Create online tutorials, assessments or digital credentials.
- Watch promotion and education videos from the library on the ASU Library YouTube page.
Course consultations
Schedule one-on-one or small group meetings with a subject librarian to discuss assignments, research questions, relevant information resources and more.
Instruction
- Identify student learning outcomes.
- Create tailored library instruction lesson plans to best support the needs of you and your students.
- Schedule library instruction for the classroom as a single session or through multiple sessions, whether it is in-person or online.
Digital credentials
LibLessons are library tutorials designed as self-enroll digital credential Canvas courses utilizing ASU’s CredID. LibLessons can be assigned from your Canvas course and are an accountable way for students to complete library tutorials.