This guide was created by Elizabeth Foster, Public Policy & Social Sciences Librarian for Georgetown University . Many thanks to Elizabeth for sharing her work.
Clear Expectations
State the purpose of the assignment and the learning objectives.
Provide discipline-specific context: what does research mean in your discipline? How is research conducted, disseminated, and evaluated?
Provide logistical information: length, citation style, formatting, number of sources, acceptable and unacceptable sources, etc.
Provide evaluation criteria or a rubric.
Research Process
Topic selection: Provide some guidance on how to decide on a topic or design a manageable research question.
Recommended sources: Identify key databases and resources so students know where to start.
Critical thinking: If you usually emphasize finding and accessing information, take things a step further and also emphasize evaluating and synthesizing information from different sources.
Make research reflective: Have students compile research logs or write a brief reflection on the research process.
Library Resources and Support Services
Check to see if the library has the resources students will need to complete the assignment.
Share your subject librarian's contact information with your students.
Ask your subject librarian to make a course guide or visit your class for an instruction session.
Add your subject librarian to your CourseSite using the "librarian" role.
Promote online library resources, such as Lehigh's Library Guides and Interlibrary Loan.
Academic Integrity
Specify the required citation style.
Provide information about RefWorks, a citation management program provided by LTS.