Hi, Kyle, and thank you for a very interesting presentation about library guides. I found your presentation intriguing the first time I heard it, and here it is just as well done, too. I liked the examples you gave, and I enjoyed your humor, too. Could you please discuss how and why you think some other, different classes might benefit just as much as your class with the creation of library guides? I did catch where you said some instructors might wish for the students to do their own research, but I think with a guide, they still might be doing their own research, too. What do you think?
I’m glad you liked that Priscilla! That was my first video (actually, the second, the first was really bad and nobody gets to see it!). I created those guides for two 100-level history classes. There is already so much work for the students in those classes, at least I cut down their research time. As a benefit to me, the papers are better so grading is faster. I have not yet created a library guide for an upper-level class or any class that requires the students to do their own research, but my idea is to have the students start with a specific source and then they can research topics about that source. The guides are setup for this, it is in most of the topics for both of the classes – you can see the US History Themes Library Guide here: http://libguides.gcu.edu/HIS-144 all of the topics have links to specific sources and most of the topics have research tips at the bottom; you can work with the librarians to get better research tips than what I have if that is the purpose of your class. For example, from that Library Guide, you can look at the Topic 1: Historical Journal and see the suggested keywords near the bottom. Some students use this, I tried it out and got very good results. I am a fan of our students doing their own research, but the purpose of those two classes is for them to understand the topics that are covered. If they do their own research I’m glad they are using a scholarly library.
Thank you for sharing! I have a Word document with resources for students, but I know they hardly actually look at it, so I will definitely try this instead.
3 Replies
Hi, Kyle, and thank you for a very interesting presentation about library guides. I found your presentation intriguing the first time I heard it, and here it is just as well done, too. I liked the examples you gave, and I enjoyed your humor, too. Could you please discuss how and why you think some other, different classes might benefit just as much as your class with the creation of library guides? I did catch where you said some instructors might wish for the students to do their own research, but I think with a guide, they still might be doing their own research, too. What do you think?
Dr. Priscilla Bamba
I’m glad you liked that Priscilla! That was my first video (actually, the second, the first was really bad and nobody gets to see it!). I created those guides for two 100-level history classes. There is already so much work for the students in those classes, at least I cut down their research time. As a benefit to me, the papers are better so grading is faster. I have not yet created a library guide for an upper-level class or any class that requires the students to do their own research, but my idea is to have the students start with a specific source and then they can research topics about that source. The guides are setup for this, it is in most of the topics for both of the classes – you can see the US History Themes Library Guide here: http://libguides.gcu.edu/HIS-144 all of the topics have links to specific sources and most of the topics have research tips at the bottom; you can work with the librarians to get better research tips than what I have if that is the purpose of your class. For example, from that Library Guide, you can look at the Topic 1: Historical Journal and see the suggested keywords near the bottom. Some students use this, I tried it out and got very good results. I am a fan of our students doing their own research, but the purpose of those two classes is for them to understand the topics that are covered. If they do their own research I’m glad they are using a scholarly library.
Thank you for sharing! I have a Word document with resources for students, but I know they hardly actually look at it, so I will definitely try this instead.