Librarians are in the unique position of working with large numbers of students as they try to complete their class assignments. Based upon our observations and conversations with faculty, here are some common problems students have when doing their assignments.

1. Over-reliance on Google. Students don't often go beyond the familiar Internet search to access more scholarly resources.
2. Inability to read a citation. Is it a book? Is it an article? If students don't know, they can't find it.
3. Can't tell the difference between scholarly and popular resources. If a bibliography is full of questionable sources, it may be difficult for the instructor to evaluate the quality of the student's analytical skills.
4. Don't know which database or print resource to start with. The library offers over 200 databases, over 20,000 journals and millions of books. Students may be unsure about how to start their research.

How Can Librarians Help?

Central librarians offer a variety of services to help faculty and TAs achieve their instructional goals. Some of these include:

• Library sessions tailored to your class or assignment.
• Assistance with adding links to online articles, journals, books or databases to your course pages.
• A review of your assignment to make sure that the library resources are still current and check to see if they are now available online.

If you would like to consult with a Central librarian about instruction related services, simply send an email to the librarian for your subject area.