Instruction Services

The Steenbock Science and Engineering Libraries provide many services to support the instruction mission of the University.

The Science and Engineering Library prioritizes library instruction for courses and students in the areas of biological, physical, chemical, agricultural, and engineering sciences.  Instruction is also available for special topics that support the research process, such as Citation Management, Electronic Lab Notebooks, Chemical Safety, Research Data Management, Patents/Trademarks and Standards.

Course-related library instruction

Librarians will collaborate with course instructors to provide instruction that supports an assignment requiring library research. Skills taught may include library resource overviews; database searching strategies for database searching; specialized resources such as patents, trademarks, industry standards; critical evaluation of literature; undergraduate Com A or B information literacy requirements. Librarians will work with course instructors to determine appropriate content and instructional modality. In-person; virtual-synchronous; or virtual-asynchronous are available. In-person sessions can happen at the library or in the regular course meeting space.

Library sessions should be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance of the desired date.  Please have alternative days and times available when making your request. The session should be timed to align with times the students will be engaged in their research assignment.

Students are more engaged when the instructor participates in the session. You should plan to be present at the library session.

Library resource course guides

Library resource course guides are online guides to specific resources tailored to a course’s needs and assignments. These will appear in Canvas’ Library Dashboard, and on the Libraries’ website.  Instructors do not need to request a library instruction session in order to request a course guide.

Course reserves

For information about placing books on reserve, please visit the Steenbock Library Course Reserves page.

Consultations

Librarians will meet individually, or in small groups, to provide in-depth help with library resources. These consultations can be in-person or virtual.

Workshops, tutorials, micro-courses, orientations, and tours

Steenbock librarians offer online and in-person workshops, which can be found in the campus calendar and Library Events calendars. We also have asynchronous micro-courses, shorter tutorials, and recordings of in-person workshops. Steenbock librarians offer new graduate student library orientations to interested departments in our service areas and will reach out to graduate coordinators in August to schedule.  In-person tours are generally available at the start of the Fall semester, and on request.