Clearly define and state the assignment objectives

Are students required to use certain library databases, resources, or materials? How many sources are required?

Send a copy of your assignment, along with other relevant material such as the course syllabus, to the library ahead of time. The Libraries staff will check the assignment for feasibility and insure that the resources of the library are adequate for the assignment. If you are providing students with a list of sources to consult, staff will verify the citations. Library staff can suggest key resources for the assignment and recommend items for the Reserve Room or Electronic Course Reserves.

Plan the stops along the way

Help the students understand the process of research. Break down the assignments into small pieces due at brief intervals. Some ideas for the assignment itinerary are:

• Statement of Topic with questions to be explored in the paper. Here is an example.

  Sample assignment with Topic and Questions My research topic is Operation Bootstrap, a post World War II plan set up by the Commonwealth government of Puerto Rico and the United States, to industrialize Puerto Rico. The industrialization of Puerto Rico failed to provide jobs to all Puerto Ricans on the island. The solution came in the form of thousands of factory jobs offered to Puerto Ricans in New York City. Thus, starting in the early 1950s a mass migration of Puerto Ricans streamed into New York City. I will find out through research what these early Puerto Rican migrants experienced in New York City. Questions on Operation Bootstrap: What was Operation Bootstrap? When did Operation Bootstrap occur? Who were the people involved? Questions about the Puerto Rican migrants: Where did they come from in Puerto Rico? How did they get to New York City? Where did they stay in NYC? Who went with them? Who stayed behind? Were there language barriers in NYC? How did they overcome barriers? What was the effect on their culture? How did they fit in? Were there any changes in culture? How were relationships created? Was there any prejudice? What were the effectson the family? Did social roles between men and women change?

• A working bibliography formatted in APA or MLA or other style: a first glance at possible sources found through the library's catalog and/or databases
• A final bibliography of the sources which will be used
• A first draft

Familiarize students with common terminology used in libraries such as reference, reserve, citation, journal, periodical, indexes and abstracts. Introduce them to terms specific to research and library use. Refer to this Glossary of Library Terms < http://www.lib.uconn.edu/ris/lib-assignments/glossary.htm > and alert your students to its availability.

Allow students to choose their specific subject within a broad range of topics. For example, give students a list of 20 American short stories to pick to critique, rather than expect all student to evaluate the same short story. This guarantees that there will not be 25 students looking for the same materials in the library.

Include the evaluation and analysis of information as part of the research process. Require students to use a variety of sources - primary and secondary, popular journals and scholarly journals - and to distinguish among them. Consider alternate formats and their implications: information in books versus information in journal articles; printed material relative to online, video, or audio formats. If web sites are to be used, check out Evaluating World Wide Web Resources < http://www.lib.uconn.edu/ris/lib-assignments/web.htm > for suggestions.

If a non-Reference item will be used by many in the class, put it on Reserve in the library, or on Electronic Course Reserves < http://www.lib.uconn.edu/ECR/ >. Reference materials generally are not put on Reserve, since they would not leave the library in any case.

Stress to students that there are professionals available at the Desks or by appointment to help them find the resources they need.