Vassar librarians are your pedagogical partners. Let’s work together to design meaningful and creative experiences that enrich students’ research practices and resonate with their learning inside and outside of the classroom. 

To start the conversation about library instruction:

Contact your liaison librarian

or 

email researchhelp@vassar.edu and we will match you with a librarian or archivist to discuss possibilities relevant to your course.

Please get in touch even if you haven’t previously scheduled a library workshop or spoken to a librarian about your research assignments! 

In summer 2022, the Vassar Libraries launched the new Library Search tool, which replaces the library catalog and Discover as the primary gateway to our physical and digital collections. We’re eager to assist students and faculty alike in their exploration of this new tool and its features–and a library session for your class is one way that Vassar librarians can help! Talk to your liaison librarian about how you might integrate the new Library Search into your courses and research assignments.

Library instruction for your classes, advisees, research assistants, and other projects and initiatives can help students:

• develop search skills and research strategies within and across disciplines
• explore Vassar's library collections, and the wider world of scholarship, for academic and extra-curricular purposes
• grow as critical and self-reflective thinkers 
• cultivate creativity, open-mindedness, and inclusive practices in their learning, research, and engagement in the Vassar community
• feel confident and empowered in their use of the Vassar College Libraries 

Contact your librarian to discuss instruction possibilities. We can work together to design experiences that include:

• Workshops during or outside of class time, in the library or in your regular classroom, ranging from a brief introduction to a full period or multiple class meetings
• Sessions that focus on an assignment or course, a particular resource (e.g., Web of Science), a particular skill or methodology (e.g., oral history, digital scholarship), a discipline (e.g., for all majors), or an experience (e.g., for all thesis-writers or members of a lab)
• Individual or small-group research consultations for students in your class or your research assistants; this gives students focused time with a librarian to delve into their specific research topic and needs. (Please note that students are always welcome to make their own appointments for research consultations! We have found, however, that when faculty encourage or require students to meet with a librarian, this can help students feel more comfortable and recognize the value of seeking in-depth research support.)
• A customized research guide, video tutorial, or module to embed in your Moodle page that highlights resources or methodologies for a specific assignment, course, or topic

We hope you'll refer to the library and librarians in your syllabus or Moodle site as resources for your students. The blurb below was written with First-Year Writing Seminars and introductory courses in mind. Please customize as you see fit, or work with your liaison librarian to develop text that's relevant for your assignment, course, or department. 

Research Help from Librarians

As a Vassar student, you have access to fantastic library collections: books and scholarly journals, current and historical newspapers, government information, video and audio recordings, musical scores, rare or unique archival materials, and more. Exploring these collections for your research can be exciting and inspiring--but it can sometimes feel overwhelming, too. Vassar’s librarians are here to help you navigate the many resources and services that are available to you, so that you can enjoy all that our libraries have to offer. Librarians can assist you at any stage of the research process, including developing your topic, finding relevant materials, conducting effective searches in databases, creating an annotated bibliography, and citing your sources. Visit https://library.vassar.edu/research/ask-a-librarian to email or chat with a librarian or to schedule a research consultation.