The Innovative Library Classroom (TILC) 2016

Abstract

Short Abstract: Skillful search savvy can be intimidating to beginning researchers, and, much to my chagrin, most of my students don’t prefer to wax philosophical about controlled vocabularies. How, then, can I stay excited about my work in the face of my own necessary repetition and of my students’ skepticism, anxiety, or boredom?

By re-tooling my approach to introductory information literacy sessions, I can demonstrate more sophisticated search technique to new audiences without becoming a broken record (good for me) or mired in technical jargon (good for them). Students benefit by learning how to begin research beyond the keyword, and I remain jazzed about how fun research can be in the bizarre and esoteric rabbit holes of an academic database.

Learning outcomes: By the end of my session, we will have -implemented CV-driven searching in the context of beginning research instruction -shared and reflected upon our experiences using embedded database features to facilitate research -created a sample lesson plan for use across discipline-specific instructional contexts