{"id":453,"date":"2012-07-17T12:56:18","date_gmt":"2012-07-17T12:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/library\/information-literacy\/designing-assignments\/"},"modified":"2017-07-18T16:31:28","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T20:31:28","slug":"designing-assignments","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ramapo.edu\/library\/designing-assignments\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Library Research Assignments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section bb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; admin_label=&#8221;section&#8221;][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;row&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Designing Library Research Assignments Header Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1>Designing Library Research Assignments<\/h1>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Designing Library Research Assignments Text&#8221; background_layout=&#8221;light&#8221; text_orientation=&#8221;left&#8221; use_border_color=&#8221;off&#8221; border_color=&#8221;#ffffff&#8221; border_style=&#8221;solid&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>The Purpose of a Course Related Research  Assignment:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Has a specific understood purpose<\/li>\n<li>Relates to some aspect of the course subject  matter or learning objectives<\/li>\n<li>Leads to an increased understanding of a subject  or the process of locating information related to the subject<\/li>\n<li>Makes students aware of the variety of  information sources and formats (e.g. print, video, DVD, electronic, web,  internet)<\/li>\n<li>Teaches students to select and evaluate quality  information sources appropriate for their topics<\/li>\n<li>Reinforces habits of ethical scholarship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Suggestions for Effective Library Assignments<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tell students why they are doing the assignment  and what purpose it serves<\/li>\n<li>Divide complex assignments into a sequence of  smaller, more manageable parts and provide feedback to students on each part of  the research process separately<\/li>\n<li>Browse the library&#8217;s collection in advance for  coverage of holdings<\/li>\n<li>Urge students to go to the reference desk for  assistance<\/li>\n<li>If using a website, check a few days, before  giving the assignment to make sure the site is still working<\/li>\n<li>Provide librarians with a copy of&nbsp; your  assignment<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t assume students know how to use the  library, even if they tell you they do<\/li>\n<li>Test the assignment yourself to make sure it can  be completed realistically<\/li>\n<li>Schedule library instruction sessions<\/li>\n<li>Give clear instructions for assignments in  writing, rather than orally to reduce confusion<\/li>\n<li>Give a copy of the assignments to the reference  librarians <\/li>\n<li>Give enough time for students to complete  assignments successfully (research takes time)<\/li>\n<li>Consult a reference librarian before, during and  after an assignment<\/li>\n<li>The Potter Library collections and services are  continually changing. New sources and ways of accessing information replace old  ones every day. Check your assignments regularly so that you are not asking  your students to use outdated or withdrawn sources.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule an Information Literacy session  preferably close to the time students will actually be doing the research<\/li>\n<li>Use E-reserves when many students have to use  the same resource<\/li>\n<li>If the assignment requires the use of specific  sources, give students a list of them<\/li>\n<li>Check availability and access in the Potter  Library<\/li>\n<li>Clarify to students that the &#8220;Web&#8221; or  &amp;ldquo;Internet&amp;rdquo; is not the same as library databases, e-journals, online catalog,  etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sample Discipline Specific Assignments <\/h2>\n<h2>Biography<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Select a scholar\/researcher in a field of study  and explore that person&#8217;s career and ideas. In addition to locating  biographical information, prepare a bibliography of writings and analyze the  reaction of the scholarly community to the researcher&#8217;s work.<\/li>\n<li>Nominate someone or a group for the Nobel Peace  Prize. Learn about the prize, the jury, etc. Justify the nominations.<\/li>\n<li>Identify significant people in a discipline.  Consult a variety of biographical resources and subject encyclopedias to gain a  broader appreciation for the context in which important accomplishments were  achieved.<\/li>\n<li>Identify a significant event or publication in a  discipline. Ascertain the important people, etc., involved by consulting a  variety of library resources.<\/li>\n<li>A verbatim transcript of an analytical  description of a news conference can serve as a format for simulated interviews  with well known people of any period. What questions would contemporaries have  asked? What questions would we now, with hindsight, want to ask? How would  contemporary answers have differed from those that might be given today? Take a  rigorous, analytical approach, both in terms of the questions to be asked and  the information contained in the answers.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Biology or Health<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask students to chose a diagnosis and have them  act as responsible patients by investigating both the diagnosis and the  prescribed treatment. Have them to do a  comparison of the relative effectiveness of alternative treatments and then  present it as a slideshow. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Communication &amp; Presentation Skills<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Have students research a topic and present it as  a poster session that other students will use to learn about a topic. This  gives them experience with research as well as with expressing important points  succinctly. <\/li>\n<li>Ask students to create a web page or PowerPoint  presentation incorporating digital images found by searching the web; in  preparation for the assignment facilitated a discussion of the issue of  copyrighted images. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Critical Thinking<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask students to compare and contrast primary and  secondary sources on the same topic; ask them to contrast the sources, their  content and treatment of the topic <\/li>\n<li>Provide students with an article from the  internet, or have them locate one through a search engine, then ask students to  determine if the author is affiliated with a credible source such as a college,  university or online journal.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare a list of citations to articles on a  particular topic- example: &#8220;hurricanes&#8221;-from a variety of sources  such as scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, government documents and\/or  websites. Ask the students to identify which items would be appropriate for a  research project in a college course called &#8220;Natural Disasters: Or How to  Avoid Being Killed by Planet Earth.&#8221; <\/li>\n<li>Verify assumptions or opinions on a specific  topic. For example, for a course about inequalities of race, gender, and  economics, students could be asked to find the average income for black women  and white women in the U.S.  What source did they use? How did they find it? Is it reliable? What other  sorts of information could the source provide? <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Have students write a family history story.  Students will use various sources of <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Literature<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>To develop the ability to evaluate sources,&nbsp; have students prepare a written criticism of  the literature on&nbsp; a particular issue by  finding book reviews, and by searching citation indexes to see who is quoting  the context of the scholarship in a particular field.<\/li>\n<li>Create a profile of a species, or chemical  compound found in a household product. Familiarizes students with the common  scientific reference tool and introduces them to a scientific literature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Management<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Have students describe a career and research the  career choice. Ask students to find and specify why companies are the leading  companies in that area? Also, what&amp;rsquo;s the best company in their county of  residence to work for a generic career of their choose?<\/li>\n<li>Have students choose a company and find out what  its employment policies are-flex time, family leave, stock options. Further, to  find the net worth of the company if its traded publicly; the outlook for this  occupation; the expected starting salary and how does the outlook and salaries  vary by geography?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Music<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Write a review of a musical performance and  include both reference to the performance attended and reviews of the  composition&#8217;s premiere. Place the composition in a historical context using  timetables, general histories and memoirs when available, using this  information to gain insight into its current presentation.<strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Judge variant editions and formats of a piano  concerto. Critically think about performance practices exhibited in the various  editions and formats. Conclude what each source employs, and state the  implications for one&#8217;s own performance<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Plagiarism  &amp; Understanding Intellectual Property<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask students to prepare an annotated and  evaluative bibliography of references to submit with their research paper or  project. Ask students to include items in their bibliography they did not use  and have them explain why<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Political Science <\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Have students follow a piece of legislation  through Congress, tracing the lobbying groups for and against the legislation  and how campaign financing affects the final decision. Students will use  various legal sources.<\/li>\n<li>Have students follow a particular foreign policy  situation as it develops, the organizations involved, the history of the issue  and the ideological conflicts.<\/li>\n<li>Have students write a family history story.  Students will use various sources of information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Primary  Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Use bibliographies, literature guides, and the  Internet to find primary sources on an issue or historical period. Contrast the  treatment in the primary sources with the treatment in the secondary sources.<\/li>\n<li>Locate primary sources about any event. Any type  of material can only be used once, i.e., one newspaper headline of a major  event, one quotation, one biography, one census figure, one top musical number,  one campus event, etc. Compile a minimum of six different sources. Write a short  annotation of each source and include the complete bibliographic citation. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Problem Solving<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Compare the treatment of the same topic in two  different disciplines <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Psychology<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Determine the adequacy of a psychological test  based on the literature about the test. Then develop a test battery designed  for a particular situation, by using published tests and the literature about  them<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Have students find out the many journals  published in psychology and to identify those journals that are basic to the  discipline. Compare and contrast them. Analyze their content, tone, audience  and impact<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Social Sciences<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ask students to find a specified number of  sources on a topic and write descriptive or evaluative annotated bibliography. Affords students an opportunity to imagine  how a secondary source might fit into their own argument and encourages  students to think critically about selecting quality resources, as well as  provide them practice in using a bibliographic citation style. <\/li>\n<li>Assign  students a topic on which a review article was written a number of years ago  and have students update that review. This introduces students to literature  reviews, subject specific databases, indexes and reference sources<em>. <\/em>It also requires students to analyze,  synthesize and integrate the ideas they find.<\/li>\n<li>Have open discussions about the availability of  research papers for purchase on the internet. Use this as a way to open  dialogue about the ethical issues of using intellectual property. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Alternatives to the Term Paper<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Create a web page on a narrow topic relevant to  the course. Include meta sites, e-journals, discussion lists, and  organizations. <\/li>\n<li>Conduct the research for a paper except for  writing the final draft. At various predetermined deadlines, turn in 1) a  choice of topic; 2) an annotated bibliography; 3) an outline; 4) a thesis  statement; 5) an introduction and conclusion.<\/li>\n<li>Write a newspaper story describing an  event&#8211;political, social, cultural, whatever suits the objectives-based on  their research. (Limited to one or two articles, or be more extensive.)  Research the same event in different sources and compare the newspaper stories  that result.<\/li>\n<li>Write an exam on one area; answer some or all of  the questions (depending on professor&#8217;s preference). Turn in an annotated  bibliography of source material, and rationale for questions.<\/li>\n<li>Write a grant proposal addressed to a specific  funding agency; include supporting literature review, budget, etc. (Best  proposal could be submitted for funding of summer research). <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Pitfalls to Avoid<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not assume students have had prior experience  using the library or that their general orientation is relevant to your  assignment<\/li>\n<li>Materials the library owns changes from semester  to semester. Retest an assignment before an assignment is given<\/li>\n<li>Giving a scavenger hunt. It lacks a clear  purpose and does not teach students to do meaningful library research.<\/li>\n<li>Assigning the entire class the same exact  assignment causes vandalism and makes it difficult for students to find needed  resources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\">~ Adapted from library websites of University of California,  Berkeley and University of North Carolina, Ashville ~<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Designing Library Research Assignments The Purpose of a Course Related Research Assignment: Has a specific understood purpose Relates to some aspect of the course subject matter or learning objectives Leads to an increased understanding of a subject or the process of locating information related to the subject Makes students aware of the variety of information [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"<h1>Designing Library Research Assignments<\/h1>\r\n<h2>The Purpose of a Course Related Research  Assignment:<\/h2>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Has a specific understood purpose<\/li>\r\n  <li>Relates to some aspect of the course subject  matter or learning objectives<\/li>\r\n  <li>Leads to an increased understanding of a subject  or the process of locating information related to the subject<\/li>\r\n  <li>Makes students aware of the variety of  information sources and formats (e.g. print, video, DVD, electronic, web,  internet)<\/li>\r\n  <li>Teaches students to select and evaluate quality  information sources appropriate for their topics<\/li>\r\n  <li>Reinforces habits of ethical scholarship<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Suggestions for Effective Library Assignments<\/h2>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Tell students why they are doing the assignment  and what purpose it serves<\/li>\r\n  <li>Divide complex assignments into a sequence of  smaller, more manageable parts and provide feedback to students on each part of  the research process separately<\/li>\r\n  <li>Browse the library's collection in advance for  coverage of holdings<\/li>\r\n  <li>Urge students to go to the reference desk for  assistance<\/li>\r\n  <li>If using a website, check a few days, before  giving the assignment to make sure the site is still working<\/li>\r\n  <li>Provide librarians with a copy of\u00a0 your  assignment<\/li>\r\n  <li>Don't assume students know how to use the  library, even if they tell you they do<\/li>\r\n  <li>Test the assignment yourself to make sure it can  be completed realistically<\/li>\r\n  <li>Schedule library instruction sessions<\/li>\r\n  <li>Give clear instructions for assignments in  writing, rather than orally to reduce confusion<\/li>\r\n  <li>Give a copy of the assignments to the reference  librarians <\/li>\r\n  <li>Give enough time for students to complete  assignments successfully (research takes time)<\/li>\r\n  <li>Consult a reference librarian before, during and  after an assignment<\/li>\r\n  <li>The Potter Library collections and services are  continually changing. New sources and ways of accessing information replace old  ones every day. Check your assignments regularly so that you are not asking  your students to use outdated or withdrawn sources.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Schedule an Information Literacy session  preferably close to the time students will actually be doing the research<\/li>\r\n  <li>Use E-reserves when many students have to use  the same resource<\/li>\r\n  <li>If the assignment requires the use of specific  sources, give students a list of them<\/li>\r\n  <li>Check availability and access in the Potter  Library<\/li>\r\n  <li>Clarify to students that the \"Web\" or  \u201cInternet\u201d is not the same as library databases, e-journals, online catalog,  etc.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Sample Discipline Specific Assignments <\/h2>\r\n  <h4>Biography<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Select a scholar\/researcher in a field of study  and explore that person's career and ideas. In addition to locating  biographical information, prepare a bibliography of writings and analyze the  reaction of the scholarly community to the researcher's work.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Nominate someone or a group for the Nobel Peace  Prize. Learn about the prize, the jury, etc. Justify the nominations.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Identify significant people in a discipline.  Consult a variety of biographical resources and subject encyclopedias to gain a  broader appreciation for the context in which important accomplishments were  achieved.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Identify a significant event or publication in a  discipline. Ascertain the important people, etc., involved by consulting a  variety of library resources.<\/li>\r\n  <li>A verbatim transcript of an analytical  description of a news conference can serve as a format for simulated interviews  with well known people of any period. What questions would contemporaries have  asked? What questions would we now, with hindsight, want to ask? How would  contemporary answers have differed from those that might be given today? Take a  rigorous, analytical approach, both in terms of the questions to be asked and  the information contained in the answers.<strong> <\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Biology or Health<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Ask students to chose a diagnosis and have them  act as responsible patients by investigating both the diagnosis and the  prescribed treatment. Have them to do a  comparison of the relative effectiveness of alternative treatments and then  present it as a slideshow. <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Communication & Presentation Skills<\/h3>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Have students research a topic and present it as  a poster session that other students will use to learn about a topic. This  gives them experience with research as well as with expressing important points  succinctly. <\/li>\r\n  <li>Ask students to create a web page or PowerPoint  presentation incorporating digital images found by searching the web; in  preparation for the assignment facilitated a discussion of the issue of  copyrighted images. <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Critical Thinking<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Ask students to compare and contrast primary and  secondary sources on the same topic; ask them to contrast the sources, their  content and treatment of the topic <\/li>\r\n  <li>Provide students with an article from the  internet, or have them locate one through a search engine, then ask students to  determine if the author is affiliated with a credible source such as a college,  university or online journal.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Prepare a list of citations to articles on a  particular topic- example: \"hurricanes\"-from a variety of sources  such as scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, government documents and\/or  websites. Ask the students to identify which items would be appropriate for a  research project in a college course called \"Natural Disasters: Or How to  Avoid Being Killed by Planet Earth.\" <\/li>\r\n  <li>Verify assumptions or opinions on a specific  topic. For example, for a course about inequalities of race, gender, and  economics, students could be asked to find the average income for black women  and white women in the U.S.  What source did they use? How did they find it? Is it reliable? What other  sorts of information could the source provide? <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>History<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Have students write a family history story.  Students will use various sources of <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Literature<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>To develop the ability to evaluate sources,\u00a0 have students prepare a written criticism of  the literature on\u00a0 a particular issue by  finding book reviews, and by searching citation indexes to see who is quoting  the context of the scholarship in a particular field.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Create a profile of a species, or chemical  compound found in a household product. Familiarizes students with the common  scientific reference tool and introduces them to a scientific literature.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Management<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Have students describe a career and research the  career choice. Ask students to find and specify why companies are the leading  companies in that area? Also, what\u2019s the best company in their county of  residence to work for a generic career of their choose?<\/li>\r\n  <li>Have students choose a company and find out what  its employment policies are-flex time, family leave, stock options. Further, to  find the net worth of the company if its traded publicly; the outlook for this  occupation; the expected starting salary and how does the outlook and salaries  vary by geography?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Music<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Write a review of a musical performance and  include both reference to the performance attended and reviews of the  composition's premiere. Place the composition in a historical context using  timetables, general histories and memoirs when available, using this  information to gain insight into its current presentation.<strong><\/strong><\/li>\r\n  <li>Judge variant editions and formats of a piano  concerto. Critically think about performance practices exhibited in the various  editions and formats. Conclude what each source employs, and state the  implications for one's own performance<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Plagiarism  & Understanding Intellectual Property<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Ask students to prepare an annotated and  evaluative bibliography of references to submit with their research paper or  project. Ask students to include items in their bibliography they did not use  and have them explain why<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Political Science <\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Have students follow a piece of legislation  through Congress, tracing the lobbying groups for and against the legislation  and how campaign financing affects the final decision. Students will use  various legal sources.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Have students follow a particular foreign policy  situation as it develops, the organizations involved, the history of the issue  and the ideological conflicts.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Have students write a family history story.  Students will use various sources of information.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Primary  Sources<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Use bibliographies, literature guides, and the  Internet to find primary sources on an issue or historical period. Contrast the  treatment in the primary sources with the treatment in the secondary sources.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Locate primary sources about any event. Any type  of material can only be used once, i.e., one newspaper headline of a major  event, one quotation, one biography, one census figure, one top musical number,  one campus event, etc. Compile a minimum of six different sources. Write a short  annotation of each source and include the complete bibliographic citation. <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Problem Solving<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Compare the treatment of the same topic in two  different disciplines <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Psychology<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Determine the adequacy of a psychological test  based on the literature about the test. Then develop a test battery designed  for a particular situation, by using published tests and the literature about  them<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\r\n  <li>Have students find out the many journals  published in psychology and to identify those journals that are basic to the  discipline. Compare and contrast them. Analyze their content, tone, audience  and impact<strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Social Sciences<\/h4>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Ask students to find a specified number of  sources on a topic and write descriptive or evaluative annotated bibliography. Affords students an opportunity to imagine  how a secondary source might fit into their own argument and encourages  students to think critically about selecting quality resources, as well as  provide them practice in using a bibliographic citation style. <\/li>\r\n  <li>Assign  students a topic on which a review article was written a number of years ago  and have students update that review. This introduces students to literature  reviews, subject specific databases, indexes and reference sources<em>. <\/em>It also requires students to analyze,  synthesize and integrate the ideas they find.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Have open discussions about the availability of  research papers for purchase on the internet. Use this as a way to open  dialogue about the ethical issues of using intellectual property. <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Alternatives to the Term Paper<\/h2>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Create a web page on a narrow topic relevant to  the course. Include meta sites, e-journals, discussion lists, and  organizations. <\/li>\r\n  <li>Conduct the research for a paper except for  writing the final draft. At various predetermined deadlines, turn in 1) a  choice of topic; 2) an annotated bibliography; 3) an outline; 4) a thesis  statement; 5) an introduction and conclusion.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Write a newspaper story describing an  event--political, social, cultural, whatever suits the objectives-based on  their research. (Limited to one or two articles, or be more extensive.)  Research the same event in different sources and compare the newspaper stories  that result.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Write an exam on one area; answer some or all of  the questions (depending on professor's preference). Turn in an annotated  bibliography of source material, and rationale for questions.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Write a grant proposal addressed to a specific  funding agency; include supporting literature review, budget, etc. (Best  proposal could be submitted for funding of summer research). <\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>Pitfalls to Avoid<\/h2>\r\n<ul class=\"indent_ul\">\r\n  <li>Do not assume students have had prior experience  using the library or that their general orientation is relevant to your  assignment<\/li>\r\n  <li>Materials the library owns changes from semester  to semester. Retest an assignment before an assignment is given<\/li>\r\n  <li>Giving a scavenger hunt. It lacks a clear  purpose and does not teach students to do meaningful library research.<\/li>\r\n  <li>Assigning the entire class the same exact  assignment causes vandalism and makes it difficult for students to find needed  resources.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<br \/>\r\n<br \/>\r\n<p align=\"center\">~ Adapted from library websites of University of California,  Berkeley and University of North Carolina, Ashville ~<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-453","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.5 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Designing Library Research Assignments - George T. 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