Research & Instruction at Woodward Library
The Woodward Library's Research and Instruction Program is dedicated to fostering information literacy across the APSU community and supports the Library's mission of "connect[ing] people with high-quality information, from which new knowledge is created."
All librarians teach in the library's Research and Instruction Program, provide research assistance at the InfoHub, and offer individual or group research consultations by appointment. In addition, librarians create course and subject-specific research guides and supplemental teaching resources, when requested.
Mission
The Woodward Library's Research and Instruction Program empowers students with the knowledge and skills needed to become information literate citizens. By creating a culture of inquiry and innovation, we strive to provide opportunities for learning in a welcoming, compassionate, and inclusive environment that supports individuals' continuous development as life-long learners.
The Library aligns instructional practices with the principles identified by the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) outlined in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. Instructional materials are developed using the six frames from the ACRL Framework as a guide:
- Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
- Information Creation as a Process
- Information Has Value
- Research as Inquiry
- Scholarship as Conversation
- Searching as Strategic Exploration
Additional Resources that Inform Our Teaching Practice
Woodward Library follows several sets of guidelines and frameworks for teaching information literacy from The American Library Association (ALA) and The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Key resources include:
- Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education
- ACRL Guidelines for Instruction Programs in Academic Libraries
- ACRL Characteristics of Programs of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best Practices
Instruction Offerings
We strive to make library instruction a collaborative process between the librarian and professor to best meet the research needs of APSU students. Instruction will be tailored to course assignments and objectives. We offer in-person, online synchronous, and online asynchronous instruction modalities.
Click here for a full list of instruction offerings.
Freshman Seminar
Introduction to library research is a focus area in all freshman seminar courses. The Woodward Library supports University Success courses (UNIV 1000, UNIV 1010, HON 1000, and PELP 1000) with an integrated librarian-led research instruction session. In this session, librarians introduce students to information literacy skills that will help them succeed in the course and beyond. In addition, librarians are available to meet with students individually to provide personalized research assistance.
For more information on the library component of University Success courses, contact Gina Nigro.