Libraries

Library Support for Course Development

This guide will assist faculty and instructors in developing courses for traditional, electronic, or blended learning, on campus or at a distance. Its purpose is two-fold:

• to describe how Liaison Librarians can work with you as part of the course development process, to effectively integrate the Library's resources and services in your course;
  
• to identify the different kinds of information you can find on the Library's website to assist you in integrating library resources in your course, in particular the integration of electronic resources in online courses and e-learning.

Liaison Librarians and Course Development

Liaison Librarians welcome opportunities to collaborate with you, individually or as part of a team, on tailoring Library resources to the specific needs of your course and students, for example:

• Identifying information and learning resources, from the Library's substantial print and electronic collections, that are relevant to your course content and learning objectives, and integrating these resources effectively in your e-learning activities, e.g. web-based resource guides for specific subjects or courses;
  
• Providing customized instruction for your students on how to access these resources online, use them effectively for study and research, and develop information literacy for lifelong learning;
  
• Providing instruction for your students in properly citing a variety of resources, a key element of academic integrity, and using citation management tools such as RefWorks;
  
• Providing instruction for your students in critically evaluating the information and resources they find on the Internet, and promoting their use of the quality electronic resources licenced by the Library.

Contact the Liaison Librarian for your faculty, department, or subject area to find out how we can assist you in developing your course.

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Useful Links for Course Development on the Library Website

The links described below, all of which are on the Library website, will help you identify and integrate the Library's diverse range of quality electronic content in your online course or e-learning environment.

- NEOS Libraries Catalogue: indicates when an item is available as an electronic resource, which may include fulltext content.

- Browse by Subject: follow the links under "Browse by Subject" and "Find" to locate resources grouped by specific topics or disciplines relevant to your course.

- Databases: complete listing of the Library's databases, grouped alphabetically, by subject, and by type of database (e.g. fulltext, citation, image, statistical).

- E-journals: alphabetical listing of all the e-journals to which the library subscribes which have fulltext online content. The heading "E-Journal Collections" groups e-journals by subject or discipline.

- E-Books (under "Find" on main webpage): access to collections of complete e-books from various publishers, organized by subject.

- Off-campus Access to Library Resources: explains the EZProxy system, which authenticates University of Alberta students and staff for off-campus access to the Library's licenced electronic resources.

- Get It! : describes the Library's service that links online citations directly to the fulltext of the item, or to print sources when fulltext online is unavailable.

- RefWorks: web-based citation management system for organizing print and electronic references, creating bibliographies, etc., accessible via the web.

- Services to Faculty and Instructors: various sub-links will be useful, e.g. "Linking to Library Resources: Off-Campus Access and Linking to Fulltext Articles," which connects you to databases that offer "persistent links" (links that won't change) to fulltext articles or other electronic resources, which can be embedded in web-based courses.

- Off-Campus Access to Library Resources: explains how to connect to licenced Library resources via the EZProxy server

- Guide to Plagiarism and Cyber-Plagiarism: examines the issue, provides information and related links to help prevent, detect, and report plagiarism.

- Library Instruction: course-specific instruction in using Library resources that are relevant to your course, students, and their assignments, as well as general library instruction.

- Research Guides (Library Research/Writing Guides and Tutorials): guides that promote effective use of electronic resources in online teaching and research, e.g. critical evaluation of internet resources, citation style guides for electronic resources, and RefWorks, a web-based citation manager.

- Reserve Services: Library staff can alert you to electronic versions of articles or books to replace the print versions placed on traditional Reserve.

- Videos: techniques for searching the NEOS catalogue for videos, DVDs, and films

- Library Services for Distance Students: describes special services, e.g. document delivery, that are available to students who are located 50km or more from Edmonton, and to distance program instructors who need to be at off-campus course sites.

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Other University of Alberta Teaching Support Services for Instructors

- Extension Learning Solutions (xLS): innovative learning solutions through instructional design, evaluation, and research.

- University Teaching Services (UTS): a variety of resources and programs aimed at supporting faculty in their teaching role.