Instruction Principles

1. We want to conduct a minimum of two sessions with each student during his or her undergraduate program.
2. Development of information skills requires practice. As an analogy, sport teams do not practice just once and obtain skills - it requires multiple practices.
3. We found that it is more effective to instruct students concerning research processes when they have a paper assigned, not before.
4. We want to help faculty meet course learning objectives as they relate to information literacy skills: Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and to have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." (American Library Association, Presidential Commission on Information Literacy. Final Report, 1989.)
5. We will teach instruction sessions that are:
   - general (liberal arts, etc.);
   - program (department);
   - discipline; and,
   - course specific.
6. We will teach about:
   - specific information products (EBSCOhost; ERIC, etc.);
   - specific information access and retrieval functions (advanced searching, etc.);
   - general Web functions (using search engines, directories, etc.); and,
   - evaluating resources found on the Web.
7. We endeavor to employ active learning when instructing about computer-related information processes. We know that students learn by doing, and that they learn from each other.
8. We continuously strive to improve our instructional methodologies and content. We do that by assessing students in pre- and post-tests.
9. We try to instruct at point of contact - when students ask a question, etc.

Instruction Practices

1. We give students the opportunity to practice in-class what they are taught.
2. We make it a point to not wait until the end of a session to provide an opportunity to practice. We inform students about the "big picture" -- what they learn from this session may change their entire college experience. For example: "if you follow these instructions and implement these procedures, you can save hours of time while conducting research for each paper -- throughout college, and even during your career."
3. We tell them what they will learn - it changes anxiety into confidence.