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Notes to Instructors on Writing Good Research
Assignments

[detailed version of Notes to Instructors]
    DO
    Feel free to ask your subject or liaison librarian for assistance in creating assignments.

    DO ASSIGN
    Real, relevant, content-based research.

    DO:
    Define your terms so that students know what you are asking for when they complete their assignments.

    • What is a summary? Abstract? Annotation? Essay? Paragraph? Analysis? Synthesis?
      Why?

    DO
    Specify how many sources are required.
    DO:
    State clearly specific requirements--let students know exactly what you want them to include as resources:
    • Any kind of periodical article? Or only:
      • Scholarly/refereed journal articles?
      • Magazine articles?
      • Newspaper articles?
      • At least 2/3 of the articles be from scholarly journals?
    • Books?
    • Book chapters? (Note: these can resemble journal articles in anthologies.)
    • Web pages?
    • Government Documents?
      Recommended:
      Why?

    BE CAREFUL
    When specifying acceptable types of sources.

    DO:
    Give examples in class and/or on your assignment of what is an acceptable resource.

    DO
    Encourage your students to evaluate the sources they find. Final step: is the source useful for them? An excellent source might not be relevant to a student's assignment.

    DO
    • Give ample time for students to complete library assignments.
    • Or better yet, create your assignment and have sections of it due throughout the semester. Students will then need to return to the library throughout the semester and thereby will learn how to do better research.
    • Repeat skills learned in earlier assignments to reinforce concepts.
      Why:
      For example:

    DO:
    Grade library assignments and allot them a percentage of students' final grades.
    DON'T:
    Require students to use print, CD-ROM and electronic indexes for their topics.
      Only if you know that they exist (and have checked them personally--each semester)
      Why not?

    DON'T
    Assign "Scavenger Hunt" assignments.

    INSTEAD
    • Have students identify information (such as full bibliographic citations: authors, titles, cities, publishers, dates for books--in SAGE) found in electronic sources.
    • Not require students to find the physical items (books or articles) for this assignment.
      Why?

How to do Library Research

Content: Naomi Lederer