Information Literacy

The mission of the Information Literacy Program is to support students in developing and expanding their research skills; this promotes critical evaluation of information, understanding the role that research plays in scholarship, and encourages students to embrace their role as scholars.

Please complete the form as thoroughly as possible at least a week ahead of the requested date of instruction and be sure to include your research-based assignment.

Librarians at BCC provide comprehensive, understandable, and practical instruction on every aspect of the research process. Students will learn how to evaluate websites, choose relevant books and ebooks, find academic or scholarly articles, and write citations.

It is important for faculty to be present during instruction to ensure assignment-related questions are answered accurately. 

Research with an instruction librarian always revolves around your assigned research project or paper. We will recommend databases, teach website evaluation, and discuss how different source types (books, websites, journal articles, etc.) might best meet students' research needs.

We encourage you to choose the model that best fits your information literacy needs.  We would be happy to meet with you to discuss the possibilities in more depth.

One Shot Library Instruction

This traditional method of instruction involves a librarian teaching your class for one session, including all relevant research instruction for the assignment.

Multiple Sessions

This method of instruction allows a librarian to provide information literacy sessions to your students over multiple class sessions. Time allotted can be determined by need and faculty wishes. These sessions focus on smaller bites of information, allowing students to be exposed to complex information over time.

Multiple sessions allow librarians to teach information literacy concepts above what is available in the one-shot method. Extra topics include how to read a scholarly article, how to synthesize articles for better comprehension, and the importance of peer-review in the real world.

Embedded Librarian

This method of instruction involves embedding a librarian in your online or hybrid class space. It is most effective when there is a specific assignment involved and students are encouraged to work with the librarian through a discussion board.  An assignment, as outlined below, can be adapted to fit your online course.  The librarian can also provide "just-in-time" research support by participating in certain weeks of your course.  Additionally, the librarian can also assist students at each step of the research process and provide research guides, tutorials, and research handouts.  Students can also schedule virtual research appointments with a librarian via the Book-a-Librarian tool.  What do Embedded Librarians Do? More Information on The FAQ.