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Self-Paced Library Instruction

Advanced Library Learning

The lessons on this page are  for learners who can complete all skills in the Library 101 course without assistance. Follow-up activities are recommended. 

Video tutorials will be developed to enhance these lessons in the coming months. 

Advanced Library Learning Lessons

 

Description Follow-Up

Identifying a Thesis
Students should critically read an article or chapter and identify the thesis, along with its elements, justification, and follow-through, in preparation for writing one themselves.

Reading: Identifying a Thesis Statement

Activity
Have students critically read a secondary source article or book chapter relevant to your course. Students should then identify the thesis and answer the following questions in writing. 

  • What is the thesis of this article?
  • Why is the thesis significant? What is the “so what?” aspect of it?
  • What is controvertible/arguable about the thesis?
  • What are two examples of evidence the author uses to support the thesis?

Annotating a Source
Students should learn to critically analyze sources in order to use them meaningfully, and avoid descriptions that simply restate an academic title, draw too heavily from an abstract, or use AI-generated summaries.

Reading:

 Activity

Have students search for and select 5-10 items to annotate. Cite the sources and answer the following questions directly beneath each citation in 250-300 word paragraphs:

  • Based on the item's introduction and first few paragraphs or chapter, what is the author’s/creator’s thesis, central theme, argument, research question, or purpose? In other words, why was this item created?
  • Why did you choose this item over all possible options in the library databases? How  specifically does it contribute to your knowledge base?  Provide examples of what you learned from this resource.
  • Provide examples of sources or data the author uses to reinforce their argument, answer a question, or sway opinion?
  • How does this item compare and contrast with the other sources you found?  What did you learn from this source that you did not learn from the others? How does this source reinforce or contradict information found in the others?
  • Is this source useful to you? Would you use this source for your project? Why or why not?