Library Instruction Policy

The William H. Hannon Library offers information literacy instruction online and in person. This instruction is provided by either (1) the reference and instruction department or (2) the archives special collections department. We can provide instruction Monday through Friday, excluding the first week and the last two weeks of classes each semester. The following provides an overview of our library instruction program, including policies, procedures, and resources for faculty and students.

Reference and Instruction Department

The library's reference and instruction team offers comprehensive research support that empowers students to question, learn, and grow in confidence and academic success. Our library instructions sessions teach students to locate, evaluate, and use information ethically, while personalized research assistance helps students master the research process at their point of need. We are also committed to supporting the work of faculty both as teachers and researchers through collaborations that enhance access to high quality resources for scholarly inquiry and investigation.

We are committed to the continued growth and success of the entire LMU community by fostering information literacy and academic research skills for LMU and beyond. We have developed guidelines that provide students with the most effective learning experience. For our library instruction to be effective, it must be tied to a class assignment. This gives students the motivation and opportunity to apply what they have learned.

To give our librarian instructors enough time to schedule and prepare for the class, we ask that classroom instructors do the following:

Request library instruction sessions at least two weeks in advance.
Send the assignment to the assigned librarian instructor at least one week in advance.
Plan to attend the session. Experience has shown that students are more engaged when the instructor participates in the session.

Scheduling

Scheduling of all instruction requests are prioritized based on the information literacy learning outcomes of the Core Curriculum.

Graduate Courses

Graduate courses that have a research component are given priority for in-person instruction.

Rhetorical Arts

In-person instruction is required for Rhetorical Arts courses. This is our top priority for scheduling in-person library instruction. We have also created a Rhetorical Arts LibGuide for students.

2000, 3000, 4000, 5000 Level Courses

We encourage in-library instruction for all courses at the 2000 level and above with an information literacy or research component.

Other Classes

First Year Seminars

First Year Seminar students already participate in five hours of information literacy instruction through online tutorials that were developed to support their courses. The tutorials take the place of the in-person library instruction. The tutorials have been extensively tested with students and revised every year to improve their effectiveness.

Our reference and instruction team will only provide library instruction for FYS courses under the following circumstances:

FYS library instruction will be provided if the students in the course have completed modules 1, 2, 3, and 4 before visiting the library. We do this so that the professor and writing instructor can communicate to us the specific problems their students are having that the modules did not address.
FYS library instruction will be provided for a specific research assignment. The modules are, out of necessity, broad introductions to research. If the professor has a research assignment that requires specialized assistance from a librarian, we can schedule instruction.

Typically, we do not schedule FYS library instruction during August, September, January, or February. Students have not completed and absorbed the content from the four modules that early in the semester.

Additionally, we have created faculty resources to deepen and enhance information literacy instruction in the First Year Seminars:

1000 Level Courses

Every first-year student at LMU will spend some mandatory time in their First Year Seminar and Rhetorical Arts courses developing basic information literacy skills. This provides the foundation they need to later develop more advanced information literacy skills in advanced courses in the disciplines. This tiered and systematic approach will allow for a more consistent information literacy experience across all programs of study.

Instead of in-library instruction, 1000 Level course instructors may request a custom online research guide, or LibGuide. However, note that students will likely find what they need on the generic subject LibGuide.

Archives and Special Collections Department

The library's archives and special collections team welcomes classes from all departments and all instructional levels. These class visits allow students to interact with primary sources and historical artifacts. Our librarians will co-create an interactive class session with faculty based on their instructional objectives.

Read more about the archives and special collections instruction program.
Schedule instruction from the archives and special collections team.