Developed in order to move students away from an outdated checklist approach to evaluating online content, we developed this tutorial to teach students how to read laterally and think critically. This tutorial consists of several small chunks of microlearning activities including an assignment. Students can complete as much or as little as they feel they need.

The assignment has students search the same topic in Google and the Web of Science or BIOSIS database. They are asked to pick one result from each search, identify its components (title, author, year) and identify the container of the information (journal, book, news, etc.). They are then asked to compare and reflect on the different results. 

In this activity focused on evaluating sources, students respond to the question "What makes a source 'good'?" by collectively brainstorming a list of characteristics they should look for in evaluating a source, then using their list to evaluate different types of sources on the same topic (e.g., a scholarly article, an op-ed, and a news article). As a class, students discuss whether their source was "good" based on the class's list of characteristics and for which types of information needs or settings their source might be most appropriate.

When writing a research paper, it can be easy to overlook the human side of scholarship – how being cited in a study (or not) can have real, material consequences, and how social structures can systematically exclude certain people from scholarship. This activity and lesson explores these ideas and gives students strategies for making their literature reviews more inclusive.

All told, this lesson takes about 50 minutes to an hour -- 20-30 minutes for the readings and pre-workshop activity, and 30 minutes of discussion. 

How can we facilitate first-year student engagement with critical Framework concepts, especially in a one-shot class? This active learning activity is designed to teach source evaluation in a 50-minute class. The activity, which incorporates elements of problem-based learning and uses a flipped classroom approach, was added to our institution’s first-year experience course.

For this project you will be creating a digital resource that can be used to help teach about the Southern California Library’s mission and materials, how to work with archival materials, and, in general, how to work with and research primary sources.  

This assignment introduces students to United States patents and to prior art searching using two free, online databases: Espacenet and Lens.org. Instructional videos are available at: http://guides.lib.campbell.edu/patents . 

This syllabus is a sample for an online literature course. I created this sample around Victorian studies, but any literature subject is applicable. I've provided examples of online projects. The goal of a syllabus like this one is to introduce students to literature, making online objects, and utilizing open resources effectively.

Below is a link to a sample learning object:

https://ajthomp55.wixsite.com/lispractvanhelsing

This syllabus is a sample for an online literature course. I created this sample around Victorian studies, but any literature subject is applicable. I've provided examples of online projects. The goal of a syllabus like this one is to introduce students to literature, making online objects, and utilizing open resources effectively.

Below is a link to a sample learning object:

https://ajthomp55.wixsite.com/lispractvanhelsing

Quiz your students on library terminology and concepts using this Library Jeopardy! template. This activity can be done for in-person library instruction sessions, or via Zoom/live virtual instruction sessions.