Shared by Jennifer Lau-Bond, Coordinator of Library Instruction

Would your students benefit from research help, but you don’t have enough class time to devote to a visit from a librarian? Consider assigning research appointments as library instruction! The library offers 25-minute online appointments for any student to meet with a librarian. Appointments are like personal library instruction, allowing students to request targeted, individualized help for themselves.

However, you can also assign an entire class to make appointments. Requiring all students to make appointments gives you the opportunity to share information with us in advance about your assignments and goals. With that additional context, our librarians can better prepare to meet with students and can tailor our individual instruction to their needs.

If you’re interested in assigning individual appointments as a form of library instruction, start by filling out the Instructional Request Form. A librarian will reach out to you if we have questions or other ideas for materials that might help.

We do recommend offering points or credit for appointments if possible, either in the form of an extra “assignment,” points added on to an existing assignment, or even extra credit. Credit helps demonstrate to students the importance of the task, and it tends to increase participation drastically. (Librarians will email students proof of their visit that they can share with you.)

If you have questions about research appointments or other forms of library instruction, get in touch with Jennifer Lau-Bond, Coordinator of Library Instruction at jlaubond@harpercollege.edu.