Welcome to the Teaching and Learning Library!
Librarians are strong supporters of teaching and information literacy. This guide provides tools and strategies to help our user community design and develop library instruction covering a wide range of topics to support all teaching, learning, and research needs at the University of Alberta.
Library Instruction
In 2016/2017 library staff taught over 700 classes to approximately 21,000 participants in courses at all levels.
The library's teaching program consists of three elements: program/course integrated instruction; general workshops; and a suite of online instructional resources designed to help our community of users find, access, use, evaluate, and cite resources in our print and electronic collections. We also teach our professional community, as is outlined in our "Teaching Library" concept paper.
Instructors are invited to contact their subject librarian to discuss library instruction options for their courses. Subject librarians welcome opportunities to work with instructors on projects such as:
- individualized or classroom instruction in information retrieval and research skills
- designing effective library assignments
- identifying and providing instruction on how to access, use, and evaluate relevant print and electronic collections [e.g. newspapers, case studies]
- identifying relevant open educational resources to support course content
- integrating print and digital resources into blended or online learning environments, including:
- persistent links to online library resources on your reading list
- library resources block in eClass
- course-specific library guides [e.g.EDU 100/300]
- online library tutorials
Contact your subject librarian to request an instruction session.
Teaching Support
For Faculty
Discover how library collections and resources can assist in the development of your course and support your teaching.
- Creating Learning Outcomes - If you are interested in learning more about learning outcomes contact the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
- Recommend a Purchase - The library doesn't have the materials you need? All members of the University of Alberta community are encouraged to suggest additions to the library collection.
- Reading List/Reserve Request - Course readings can be made available to students online with persistent links or in print in the reserve section of your library.
- Subject Guides - These subject-specific guides provide students, instructors and faculty with library collections and resources related to their course or research.
- Copyright
- Open Educational Resources
For Students
We encourage students to check out the wide range of resources available to help them navigate the library's print and digital collections.
- free library workshops
- online tutorials on a wide range of topics, including where to find information, how to search for it, and how to critically evaluate and cite it
- library guides are great pointers to where to start searching for information if you have a subject in mind - everything from anthropology to paleontology!
And, if you are not finding what you need, please Ask Us for help.
Custom Sessions
These object based learning sessions are advanced and customized for your student's needs. Typically, these sessions need to be booked 1-3 weeks in advance. It is recommended that your students have reviewed the foundational tutorials as these topics will not be covered in Custom Instruction.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Advanced archival research (print and digital)
- Finding and using specialized industry information
- Repository
- Cartographic and GIS
- Finding data and statistics
- Advanced information evaluation
- Using citation management software (Mendeley, Zotero)
- Research Impact
- Government Information
- Systematic Reviews
Online Learning Resources
- Tutorials - Please browse our tutorials to see if any would be suitable for your course needs. If you would like to request the creation of a custom tutorial, tip sheet, etc. please get in touch with your subject librarian.
- eClass Integration - Get custom course resources in your eClass course!
- Online Instruction - Our subject librarians can offer online instruction within your eClass course via Adobe Connect or simply sit on one of your synchronous classes for a “virtual coffee” or Q&A session with a librarian.
- One-on-one research assistance: Make an appointment with a librarian. If you cannot meet in person, please indicate this on the appointment request form to inquire about other options (online, telephone, etc.)