Faculty Services

What is Information Literacy

At Longwood, we define information literacy as the ability to recognize the types of information best suited to the argument, and effectively locate, critically evaluate, appropriately use, and ethically cite the information.  An information literate student will be able to locate, evaluate, and use information appropriate to their discipline and their purpose.

Information literacy is taught in all levels and in all disciplines.  The liaison librarians collaborate with faculty to develop students' information literacy skills throughout their education, with the goal of graduating information literate citizen leaders.

Instruction Options

• You have many options for how your students receive information literacy instruction from your liaison librarian.  The below form will ask you some basic questions such as class meeting dates and times, class size, and mode of instruction.  We offer instruction in-person in the library, in-person in your classroom, hyflex, and synchronously or asynchronously through Canvas.
• You can also request a librarian meet with your class more than once.
• If you would like instruction beyond the one-shot, you might consider our Embedded Librarian program.  Follow the tab at the top for more information.

Scheduling

• Please complete the Greenwood Library Information Literacy Instruction Request Form (available below) to schedule instruction by a liaison librarian (excluding the Embedded Librarian program)..
• Instruction will be tailored to your course research assignment, so if possible, we ask you to share details of the assignment with us as part of your request.
• We ask that you give us at least two weeks notice before your class meets, although earlier is always better. 
• When placing your request, please be prepared to list three preferred dates for each section, as a librarian may not be available for your first choice.
• Once you complete the form, a librarian will follow-up with you to confirm your request and discuss any other details necessary to help your students succeed.

Faculty Engagement

• We ask that you please plan to introduce the research assignment to your students prior to the class session taught by a librarian. If possible, students should be at a point in the research process where a class focused on conducting research will be most beneficial to them.  At a minimum, it is best if students have started to narrow to a specific research topic.
• We have found that having you present and engaged in the instruction session we provide communicates to your students that what we are sharing with them is valuable and not just busy work.  If at all possible, we ask that you attend the instruction sessions with your classes.
• Your engagement during our instruction in your course also invites your valuable insights into the research processes of your discipline, and further integrates the content we teach into your course goals and content.
• We want to hear from you!  Communication between you and the librarian teaching your class, both before and after the instruction takes place, is essential to its success. We are especially grateful for feedback about the impact of our instruction on your students and their demonstrated learning in your course.

For questions about the Information Literacy Instruction Program, please contact Jennifer Beach, Instruction Coordinator, at beachjs@longwood.edu.

The embedded librarian program provides a partnership between the instructional faculty and their liaison librarian to increase information literacy instruction opportunities throughout the semester and improve student outcomes.  The program is highly customized to your course needs and can include: 

• The librarian as part of your Canvas course in the role Librarian
• Librarian-created modules in Canvas, which can vary from a static information page to a module including videos, quizzes, and discussion boards.
• Multiple face-to-face instruction sessions
• Required one-on-one or group meetings between students and the librarian outside of class time.

The level of involvement the librarian has in your course is completely up to you, based on your needs, and is best decided in consultation with your librarian.  If you would like to learn more about the program, please contact your liaison librarian directly, or you may email Jennifer Beach, Instruction Coordinator, at beachjs@longwood.edu, and she will put you in contact with the appropriate person.

Civitae Foundation Courses

CTZN 110

New students need experience and guidance on how to navigate the library, one of campus' most valuable resources.  Consider registering your class for Expedition Library.  When you devote just one class period to this fun (yes, really) library orientation activity, you are giving your freshmen a leg up for their future at Longwood.  Expedition Library has students exploring the library in small groups, locating critical service points, study areas, and interacting with staff and librarians.  Students who participate come away with knowledge on where and how to get help on their assignments, as well as where they can find study spaces that fit their needs.  50-minutes.

The below video (4:50 minutes) offers a brief introduction to the orientation activities.

ENGL 165

Instructors of this foundational English course are encouraged to bring their sections to participate in an engaging and critical instructional tool activity: Search & Destroy. This card game allows students to learn to search for scholarly resources while playing a fun, competitive game with their classmates. Since making this option available, librarians have observed that students are engaged in the learning process, and navigate the library’s resources with greater proficiency than before we adopted the game.  

Our hope is that each ENGL 165 class will schedule two library visits, one 50-minute session for Search & Destroy, and a second scheduled once students are working on a specific research assignment. If your course meets on Tuesday and Thursday, we can combine Search & Destroy with hands-on practice in a single class period.

The library offers an Ethical Research Canvas course, updated in 2025.  

Using a mix of videos, text, tutorials, and quizzes, this asynchronous course teaches students how to ethically use, paraphrase, and cite outside sources, and avoid plagiarism.  Students should be able to complete the course within 2 hours.

This Canvas course is self-registering, which means that anyone at Longwood may follow this link to register and complete the module. If you are requiring students to complete the course, we recommend you create an assignment in Canvas where they may submit a screenshot of their Ethical Research grades.

Please reach out to Jennifer Beach, beachjs@longwood.edu, if you have any questions.

Following each information literacy session, your liaison librarian will ask students to complete a quick assessment.  The below QR code leads to the assessment form.