Ideas for Library/Research Assignments

These are generic suggestions, requiring modification to suit the needs of a particular course or discipline.

Compare and contrast

• Compare how two different disciplines discuss the same topic using articles from the journal literature of each discipline.
• Compare two journal articles that discuss the same topic from different points of view.
• Compare results retrieved from two types of sources, such as a popular magazine vs. a scholarly journal, or a primary source vs. a secondary source, or an Internet source vs. a library database. The Archives and Rare Books Library can help with primary source material.
• Research a particular topic in the literature of the 70s and 80s, then research the same topic in the literature of the 90s and 00s. Discuss the evolution of the topic based on this exercise.
• Compare two Web sites that deal with the same subject matter, or contrast Web sites representing government, personal, commercial, and scholarly interests.

Solve problems, answer questions

You can find Problem-Based Learning Activities in In Bowling Green State University's WebWIZARD.

Research, pure and simple

• Prepare a guide to the information sources on one subject, for example "organic food". Not only does this expose students to the variety of resources available to them, it also provides the opportunity to compare and contrast information resources and to develop critical thinking skills.
• Prepare a literature review on a topic for a specific time frame. This is particularly useful when covering historical topics and can introduce students to primary resources and our collection of online newspapers and historical books.
• Research a controversial topic using the databases Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center and CQ Researcher.
• Prepare a nomination of a person or group for a particular Nobel Prize. In addition to defending their nomination, students would be required to learn about the prize, criteria for the award, etc.
• Research the publications and career of a prominent scholar. The assignment might require biographical information, a bibliography of publications, and analysis of the individual in their field of research. There is a wealth of biographical resources available on line which help students formulate ideas.
• Research a particular company, organization, research lab, etc as preparation for a (hypothetical) interview.
• Submit a research log with the assignment for which the research was undertaken. Evaluate students on their strategy, what sources they used and why, as well as what did not work.

Visualize a topic

• Encourage students to think beyond the printed word and utilize our image and multimedia databases .
• Montage-a-google - online application that uses Google image search to generate a large graphical montage based on keywords provided by users. The resulting posters are visually very interesting, and this if an effective way to teach concepts related to keywords.
• Guess-the-google reverses the process used in Montage-a-google by the same author. It displays a collage of 20 different images and the player must guess what keyword made up the image.

 

Ideas from educators and librarians nationwide

The journal College Teaching often publishes practical articles describing ways to adapt research and writing assignments to meet information literacy goals.

How Do I Put a Little Information Literacy Into My Class? (Orradre Library, Santa Clara University)

Adapted from information compiled by the University of Cincinnati librarians and the University of New Brunswick Library Assignment Website.

Creating Effective Library Assignments

Problem-Based Learning Activities (In Bowling Green State University's WebWIZARD)