Library Instruction

What is Library Instruction?

KPU Librarians help learners develop library and research skills for their educational journey. We teach and help learners develop skills that enable them to seek, evaluate, cite and use information responsibly, critically, and with integrity. 

What We Teach

Library Orientation and Research Skills

We can teach your students foundational library skills. These core skills include searching for information, evaluating resources, and gathering citations. We work with instructors to support their students and our instruction can be based on a specific assignment, course or program. Librarians can also support you by creating research assignments or online research guides and tutorials to compliment instructional sessions.

Librarians can empower your students to:

  • Identify what research support and materials are available to them through the library’s collection (print and online)
  • Develop comprehensive research strategies for their assignments
  • Utilize more scholarly, authoritative, and diverse sources
  • Learn to understand and develop strong citation practices and methods of citation management

Advanced Research Skills

We have Liaison Librarians available for every area of study. They are experts in the resources in your subject area and can tailor instruction to your students and focus on a specific resource, task or information need. If your students have an assignment that requires them to seek specialized information, we can show them what resources to use, how to navigate them, and other strategies to make their search a success. 

Synchronous Support

We can offer library instruction to your students both in-person and online, that fit either the entire class duration or a portion of the class. You may specify if you would like us to cover core, foundational library research skills or advanced research skills, and we are also happy to work with you to tailor the instruction to your specific needs.

To arrange for a class visit or to consult a librarian on the best way to achieve your students' academic goals, we have two ways to get in touch:

Contact Your Liaison Librarian

Discuss your instructional goals directly with your liaison librarian. Find your librarian in this directory and get in touch.

Librarian Directory

Use the Instruction Request Form

Your Liaison Librarian will contact you and discuss details for a visit.

Instruction Request Form

Asynchronous Support

We also offer asychronous support through the development of online modules, open educational resources, and guides. We encourage instructors to integrate our teachings into their own.  

KPU Library Research Tutorial

Coming Soon.

Academic Integrity Tutorial (Revised 2023)

This Moodle-based, badged tutorial was developed by KPU's Academic Integrity Unit with support from KPU Library and the previous Academic Integrity tutorial from 2020. Visit Academic Integrity to access the tutorial. 

 These resources can be accessed as a whole or integrated piecemeal into your own teachings. 

Doing Research: A Student's Guide to Finding and Using the Best Sources Pressbook

  • A module-based approach to learning research skills built in Pressbooks.
  • Each module contains videos and interactive H5P exercises.
  • You can link to the full book or incorporate parts of it into your course site.
  • You can also integrate four quizzes into your Moodle Grade book.

APA Citations, MLA Citations, and Chicago Citations Pressbooks

  • Open educational resources that feature information, guidance and H5P exercises on each citation style that can be incorporated into coursework.

Academic Integrity Pressbook

  • A Pressbook-based tutorial with interactive H5P exercises.
  • You can incorporate parts of the book into your course site at the point of need, or assign the tutorial independently.

Library Tutorials and Activities (embeddable in Moodle)

  • KPU Library videos, screencasts, online activities and more which faculty members can embed into their Moodle course sites.

Research Help LibGuide

  • This website is self-led and takes students though the process of library research, step-by-step. It features videos, instructions, and recommended resources.


 

Accessibility and Library Instruction

While the library tries to follow best practices of universal design with multiple entry points for all users, we may still need to provide additional supports that you or your students might need. 

Please contact us if you think you/your students may require additional supports. The accessible supports the Library currently provides include braille handouts (coming soon), a height adjustable desk in each Library teaching lab, and captioning for instructional videos and online classes.

Questions about Library Instruction?

Contact Student Success Librarian, Caja Blomley.

Related Information

Contact Your Librarian

There are Liaison Librarians for each subject area and you can contact them by appointment, email or phone. 

More info

Citation Style Guides

We have guidance on various citation styles that can be used by students or incorporated into your course assignments. 

More Info

Subject Guides

Your Liaison Librarian has a curated guide for each area of study that suggests research resources, databases and websites. A great place to start research! 

More info

Library Resources to Support Teaching and Learning

This guide is intended to provide access to many resources available to KPU educators in support of their professional development.

More Info