The UVic Library Teaching Prospectus outlines how the library supports instructors with their teaching.

1. The library –
your teaching partner
Information Literacy: information seeking habits formed prior to arriving at
A fundamental academic college”2. Most often Google is the first and only source
practice at UVic students seek out. In order to help students better
Today’s academic libraries are much more than just understand library research and the value of scholarly
storehouses of books. With wide access to scholarly information, universities are now widely adopting
information, libraries have become dynamic learning information literacy— the ability to critically and ef-
spaces uniquely positioned at the heart of university fectively use information—as a core curriculum value.
campuses. Similar to concerns surrounding student The university library and specifically subject librarians
writing, instructors frequently express concern that are key partners in realizing this goal.
their students struggle to engage effectively in library 1
De Rosa, et al. 2005. College Students’ Perceptions
“In my History in Art research and understand what constitutes a scholarly of Libraries and Information Resources. Dublin, OH:
source. Recent studies show that most students believe Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
classes I try to encourage
the Internet has more worthwhile information for them 2
Jones, et al. 2002. The Internet Goes to College.
my students to think than an academic library1 and that students “rely on
Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life
Project.
of the discipline of art
history as a field of
inquiry, and research as an
essential creative process
for answering burning
questions in the field. To
support these goals, Lynne
Woodruff [Art Librarian]
and I decided to turn the
library instruction classes
into a problem-based
research workshop in
which students are asked
to research specific research
problems.”
– Erin Campbell
Assistant Professor
History in Art

2. “After years of teaching and seeing
first-year students under-utilize
our library resources, I realized that
just telling them about journals,
academic books and getting expert
help from our librarians wasn’t
cutting it. I needed to come up with
a research skills component that
UVic Library would make sure they got into the
and course-integration library and started working with
academic sources. Working with
Workshops Library-based assignments my subject librarian, we developed
Each year UVic librarians provide over 200 workshops The adoption of library-based assignments is becoming
an assignment for Politics 101 that
to students, instructors, staff, and the community. a popular option for many instructors interested in facili-
Many instructors are surprised to discover that some tating their students’ information literacy. Assignments had students scouring every floor
librarians spend just as much time teaching as they are designed to complement the learning outcomes of of the library for sources, and then
do selecting material for subject collections. Course- individual courses and can be as simple or comprehen-
some. As a result of having this as
specific library workshops conducted during class time sive as an instructor desires. Library assignments are
comprise the bulk of the library’s teaching load. Usu- usually co-developed with instructors and their subject a mandatory ‘pass-fail’ assignment
ally held in the library’s classroom, these workshops librarian. in the course, I noticed a marked
introduce students to common research practices and
resources specific to their discipline. improvement in the quality of the
research my students produced for
their term papers.”
- Dennis Pilon
Assistant Professor, Political Science

3. “In my first year of graduate
Research Tips Central school at UVic I took a
bibliography and research
library.uvic.ca/site/research
methodology course. As part of
UVic Librarians have developed a series of web guides that help students explore research practices common to
university. The Research Tips Central web pages include: this course, our professor invited
 Citation Help & Quick Style Guides one of the subject librarians
 eTutorials for finding books and articles
to introduce us to citation and
 Scholarly vs. popular sources
 Books vs. journals, magazines and newspapers bibliography software as well
 Using call numbers as the respected searchable
databases in our subject area. It
The C. W. Lui Learning Commons was extremely helpful and a huge
learningcommons.uvic.ca time-saver. I used RefWorks and
Located in the library the Learning Commons is a unique place on campus which brings together various academic got an A+ in the class and on my
help services in one space. Services in the Learning Commons include: final bibliography. I also started
 Library Research Help
to expand my research interests
 The Writing Centre
 Peer Helping & Learning Skills and collect some great resources
 Science Help (Chemistry, Physics, Math and Statistics) for my other courses.”
 The UVic Computer Help Desk
 Library Technical Help – April McNeil,
Graduate Student
French

4. More library support
for your teaching
Reference and Collections Services Course Reserves and eReserves
 Contact your subject librarian library.uvic.ca/site/dept/access/reserve.html
library.uvic.ca/site/lib/admin/subject.html Copyright and Scholarly Communications
 Consult a Subject Guide: copyright.uvic.ca
webapp.library.uvic.ca/subsplus/subjects/index.php
Special Collections
 Contact the Teaching and Learning Librarian:
library.uvic.ca/site/spcoll/sc.html
liblearn@uvic.ca
Archives
Music and Media Services
library.uvic.ca/site/archives
library.uvic.ca/site/dept/access/media/default.html
 Use iMac computers with multimedia software WebCT, Blackboard & Moodle
 Borrow digital cameras, camcorders, audio recorders and bbhelp.uvic.ca/instructors/WebLinksandLibraryResources.php
accessories  Integrate library resources into course management
Design: | UVic Graphic Services
 Use screening rooms and listening stations systems
Photography: | UVic Photo Services
 Print, audio and visual material can be placed on reserve
for courses Please let us know if this brochure was
helpful or not: shenders@uvic.ca