Instructional Services
Scribner Librarians are an essential part of the Skidmore learning community. In an information-rich world, librarians work with faculty and students to provide guidance on navigating electronic and print resources. 

Instructional Services Mission Statement
Scribner Library seeks to provide useful, informative, and quality library/research instruction in order to develop lifelong learners that are able to identify, locate, evaluate, and use information resources in all formats and in an ethical and legal manner.

Scheduling a Library Instruction Session

To schedule a library session for your class, contact your subject librarian.  You can discuss the research your students will be doing and the learning goals. Your librarian will tailor the session to the needs of your students. Most take place in a single class session, but you and your librarian may decide that multiple sessions are necessary.

Library Instruction Session Topics

Your library session might include some of the following topics:

• Library Catalog - Introduction to searching the catalog, accessing library accounts, and finding items using the Library of Congress classification system.
• Discovery Tool - Introduction to our main search box and how to use it to both search the catalog and databases and how to narrow down results.
• General or Discipline-Specific Database - Introduction to a database within a specific discipline or one that covers a variety of disciplines.
• Search Techniques - Introduction to various techniques that can be used in databases and catalog searching including Boolean Operators, Field searching, Truncation and Wildcards, Proximity searching, Limiters, etc.
• Primary and Secondary Sources - Introduction to the differences between primary and secondary sources and complexities in defining a primary/secondary source.
• Research Process - Overview of the research process and common pitfalls when doing research.
• Citations and Citing - Introduction to the purpose and concept of citing sources, basic makeup of a citation, and an introduction to a particular citation style. Common styles are APA, MLA, and Chicago.
• RefWorks - Introduction to using RefWorks for citing sources including setting up an account, navigating the account, exporting information from databases and Google Scholar, organizing and sharing folders, and creating bibliographies.

Typically, two of these topics can be adequately covered in a single session.

Library Classroom - Library 118

Most library sessions happen in our dedicated library classroom at the back of the first floor of the library.  Your librarian will confirm the location of your session when confirming the date/time.