Something New!
Library 201 Online This Summer, GUR This Fall
By Rebecca Marrall, Diversity Resident Librarian
Looking for 2 credits in a class you can take from anywhere? Do you want to develop skills that will help make your life easier in other classes? Or maybe you just want to learn how to conduct research better? Then consider taking the online Introduction to Library Strategies (LIBR 201) during Summer Quarter 2012!
LIBR 201: Introduction to Research Strategies introduces students to the nature of research, with an emphasis on strategies for inquiry, how to locate research resources, and how to assess sources for authority. Specifically, this course focuses on the research process: discussion of how information is organized, outlining strategies for inquiry, identifying possible sources, evaluating the quality of these sources, and compiling these sources into a successful academic work.
So, why should you take this course? LIBR 201 is unique for its recognition that information-seeking is an evolving, non-linear process that requires students to make a series of choices to create a research product. So, if you want to acquire a set of skills that 1) Will contribute to your academic success, and 2) Which have real-life applications beyond the university, consider taking this online class! Course materials are available on Blackboard via your MyWestern login, and all relevant readings, podcasts, and additional resources have been organized into a weekly series of topics which culminate in a final exam and a final project. LIBR 201 is intended for sophomores and transfer students or above.
If you can't take the course this Summer Quarter, LIBR 201 will be offered as a 4 credit General University Requirement (GUR) starting in Fall 2012! This new GUR, under the same title, will - in addition to covering the concepts already mentioned - examine the principles of information literacy, and give students more opportunities to delve into the rapidly-changing world of information access and management.
Details for library credit courses can be found here.
If you have any questions about LIBR 201 (Summer Quarter 2012), please contact the course instructor: Rebecca M. Marrall rebecca.marrall@wwu.edu.
|
|
This Issue's Great Tip
Do the Summer Library Thing
By Frank Haulgren, Collection Services Mgr.
Classes will soon be over for the academic year but the library goes on. Unlike most of the campus the library continues to be a hive of activity over the summer with lots going on behind the scenes behind a much quieter and more relaxed public face. This makes summer a great time to check out those books you never got around to reading because your classes got in the way or those videos that you could never fit in on the weekend.
It's also a great time to stretch a bit:
- Take advantage of the Student Tech Center. Develop some new skills. Make a movie! The STC will be open from 9am - 4pm, Monday thru Friday, during the 9 week summer session. See the Student Tech Center’s web page during the last week in June for its summer workshop schedule.
- Develop your research skills - Western Library will be offering 2 online summer classes. Library 201, developing research strategies, and 397a which will examine how evolution of the information commons concept influences culture and society.
- And writing skills! Get the undivided attention of the Learning Common’s Writing Center’s staff to further fine-tune your writing skills and put to use what you learned in 201. The Writing Center will be working with students for the full 9 weeks. Just submit your paper electronically (anywhere, anytime) and work remotely with a skilled peer advisor.
Here's the real tip though. Make sure when you enroll for Fall Quarter classes that you don't sign up for anything taught by a prof you had previously. Your papers are going to be sooooo much better he or she is bound to wonder.
Last, if you are staying in B'ham over the summer this is the perfect time to set yourself up with a Whatcom One card. By showing your WWU library card at any of the Whatcom County participating libraries you'll open up the door to plenty of summer reading, listening and watching! Audio books, ebooks, and DVDs.
Wait..., did someone say, "Beach?"
|
