Our Practice & Policies

Mission Statement

USU Library’s Instruction Program directly supports the University’s mission to cultivate diverse thought and service through learning, discovery, and engagement. Our program represents an active partnership with USU campuses in teaching and learning, offering services to reach all users in physical and virtual spaces alike, whether through online instruction materials, synchronous or asynchronous instruction, or hands-on experiences.

Librarians will enhance learning across the curriculum by supporting:
  • the discovery, access, and critical consumption of information;
  • the development of responsible creators of information;
  • archival literacy, including the interpretation and incorporation of primary source material in research;
  • the intersection of technologies and research in all disciplines through digital exhibits and mapping, text analysis, and other multimedia projects;
  • and, the development of data competencies.

The program also supports an internal library instruction community of practice centered on learning from and with each other.

Values

The USU Libraries' Instruction Program is informed by the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education and directly supports USU Libraries’ mission to facilitate the use of information in teaching, learning, and research. Information literacy is a set of abilties that enable users to locate, evaluate and use information.

  • We believe that the USU Libraries’ DEIA Values directly apply in the classroom and any learning environment.
  • We believe it’s important to teach to specific literacies and competencies, including, but not limited to literacies within a discipline, primary source literacy, digital literacy, and data literacy.
  • We believe information literacy is not just librarians’ work and is a crucial component of instruction and learning throughout our campus community.

Library Instruction Policies

To have the most impact and provide sustainable support, we target communication and quantitative-intensive courses and classes heavily prioritizing research and information literacy learning outcomes. For classes that are not research-focused, instructors are encouraged to utilize the library's suite of online learning resources.

Library Workshop Policies

  1. Instructors are required to be present during library instruction sessions.
  2. Instruction workshops need to be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance.
  3. Number of sessions per course is limited to two.
Library instruction requested for multiple sections will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. However, for courses with more than two sections, online alternatives are highly encouraged. If we cannot accommodate you on the dates you need, we can help you access and incorporate any of our online resources into your course.

Library Room Use

Library instruction rooms should only be used with a librarian/library staff member present. If you need a room in the library for a non-instruction meeting, please review our room information.

Online Materials & Instruction

Currently, library team members are not able to participate in discussion boards. We suggest discussion board posts be pivoted to a single Canvas announcement or other alternatives. Requests for the creation of online materials, including Canvas modules, need to be made at least 1 month in advance.

Consultations with a Librarian

Due to sustainability and workload needs, we ask that instructors do not require all students in a class to meet one-on-one with a librarian. Successful alternatives could be to collaborate with your librarian to craft a tailored library instruction session, integrate librarian team members as a resource for students in the Librarian Role in Canvas, and direct students to online learning materials as provided/coordinated by your librarian.

  • Library team members are available to meet one-one-one with students for appointments up to 45 minutes in length.
  • Consultations must be requested at least 2 business days in advance.
  • Patrons will be asked to supply detailed information about their research request.

Assessment and Research

Library faculty and staff regularly engage in assessment and research into the impact of library instruction and information literacy pedagogy.  Select studies and reports are included below.

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