First-year students arrive with a range of experiences with library resources, and liaison librarians provide library research sessions to introduce academic research strategies and resources to all first-year students, focusing on the unique scholarly collections at the University of Richmond. Library instruction sessions also offer all students, especially those with little previous exposure to library research and resources, the opportunity to think about information needs and appropriate resources beginning with their first UR classes.

Students develop library skills, like all others, most effectively over time, by facing increasingly difficult tasks and learning the best tools and techniques to meet them. Our students will have the advantage of immensely greater resources and availability than in the past, but also experience the increased challenges of selecting resources for specific information needs, evaluating and using them effectively.

Librarians and FYS faculty work together to plan how best to foster information literacy and research skills for first year students in their FYS course. This includes universal research principles that can apply to academic research broadly, and/or discipline-specific skills that can provide students an early research foundation for future research projects in their chosen areas of study

There are a few topics we focus on to ensure students across all FYS courses have a basic understanding of academic library services and information literacy skills. These include:

• Finding Sources. Students will utilize the library website to locate information in order to determine how resources are used for different scholarly information needs.
• Proper Citing and Ethical Use of Sources. Students will learn how to acknowledge the work of others in their own narratives in order to follow established conventions for citing a source.
• Investigative Reading of Sources. Students will learn to recognize how different types of information sources have varied purposes and audiences in order to distinguish scholarly, popular, primary, and/or secondary sources.

You can collaborate with library liaisons to help connect these topics directly to your FYS subject area, to go more in-depth into one or more skills, or to focus on course-specific skills that support your planned research assignment(s). Click here to view the "Designing FYS Research Assignments" page for additional information on how to create meaningful and impactful research assignments for your first-year students.

Starting in Fall 2024, as a part of the new Web of Inquiry curriculum, first-year students will no longer have an FYS in their spring semester. Typical spring FYS sessions went more in-depth into higher-order thinking skills like source analysis, research question development, and scholarly authority. This means the Fall FYS session is the one opportunity for all first-year students to get introduced to the library and foundational research skills.

However, the new curriculum also provides a number of exciting opportunities to reach students in unique ways throughout their first year at UR. Here are some tips and recommendations to consider when planning your FYS library session:

• Additional in-class sessions. While at least one library session is required, you can always schedule additional sessions with your liaison librarian. In fact, we encourage it! These could include full-class lectures, half-class follow-up sessions, or even peer review days with librarians present. Speak with your liaison librarian about potential ideas.
• Library Video Tutorials. Liaison librarians are currently building a suite of online tutorials to supplement our in-class instruction for FYS students and beyond. These focus on specific research/library skills with built-in assessment questions. You can assign specific tutorials to have students watch before a library session to build on those skills in-class, or after a library session to check for comprehension.
  • Click here to view the full UR Library Tutorials list.
• Book Arts, Archives, and Rare Books (BAARB). Located within Boatwright Library, the Book Arts, Archives, and Rare Books division supports the educational mission of the University of Richmond by preserving and providing access to our diverse collection of materials for use by students, faculty, staff, scholars, and the general public and providing opportunities to research and explore through a variety of distinctive collections and experiences. You can coordinate with our BAARB team to plan relevant, impactful instruction sessions for your FYS course in addition to the required library session. 
  • Click here to view the BAARB homepage.
  • Click here to view the Book Arts Studio guide.
• Blackboard integration. Liaison librarians can be added to your Blackboard course as instructors to more directly connect with your students and their coursework. Speak with your liaison librarian about how to set this up.
• Non-FYS library sessions. We assign FYS liaison librarians based on your existing departmental liaison librarian assignments. If you know of research-intensive, non-FYS courses in your discipline areas that may benefit from information literacy instruction, speak with your liaison librarian to target those for future sessions. These could be 100-400 level courses, either reinforcing or advancing concepts from your FYS.

There is no requirement for when your library session has to occur during the semester. However, we have a few suggestions for timing as you develop your syllabus:

• Required full class. The library session is required to cover an entire class session. Identify times throughout the semester where you can devote a full class session.
• Plan around your research assignment. Sessions are most effective when students can apply the skills covered directly to their in-class work. Scheduling a session when you plan on introducing your FYS research assignment to the class can help with that process, letting students practice researching for a relevant assignment.
• Need for follow-up? If you'd like an additional library session scheduled, be sure there's enough time between sessions for an effective progression of the content and skills to be covered.