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Incorporating information skills within study units or cross disciplinary programs

Information skills programs and activities can be incorporated within individual units of study, or as part of general or cross disciplinary programs.

Learning materials and training

  • Liaison librarians can work with course teams to build information skills into the curriculum and via targeted Library programs.
  • They can provide training in effective research techniques to support a particular assessment task or assignment. Training can be undertaken in the library, in labs, or delivered online.
  • To promote the Library and quality information resources as key student resources, liaison librarians can provide course teams with information and learning materials for use in unit guides and course materials.
  • Why should university students use the Library? This 2008 video features University students and staff sharing what they like best and value the most about their library, their space.
  • The following statement has been developed for inclusion in faculty unit guides.


    Your Library

    Searching the Internet is a key way of finding information – especially for general and everyday topics. The Library website is a key way to find unit e-readings, academic journals, books, e-books, subject databases and websites that contain quality information for your study of this unit, and as research for assignments. Many of these resources are online so that you can access them on campus, at home or at work – any day, any time. The Library’s help services, in person or via email, phone or instant messaging, will assist you to make the most of library services and save research time.

Orientation and transition to university

The Library conducts a program of introductory learning activities throughout Week Zero, and the early weeks of trimester one and two, to support students’ transition to university and introduce them to the Library and essential information resources for their studies.

Each year several thousand new, and returning students, join in Library orientation:

  • in-person within each of the campus libraries on a student rover led tour.
  • online (via eLive) to learn how to easily navigate the Library’s website to locate the right resources for their studies.
  • library presentation in faculty sessions held during Orientation week across campuses

Students are provided with the opportunity to meet and connect with other new students, and work in a collaborative environment. They have the opportunity to meet Faculty/School liaison librarians who are knowledgeable about the academic curriculum and have a good understanding of student’ needs. They will also interact with student rovers who can provide ongoing peer-support.

While attendance at University orientation is voluntary, participation and engagement in the program is a first step to help new students understand academic requirements of their courses. This includes awareness of the importance of accessing and using authoritative and reliable information obtained from quality sources for student assignments and research.

Self-help tutorials

The Library has developed two online web-based tutorials designed to help learners gain greater confidence and skills in locating and working with information. The tutorials comprise a number of modules that incorporate interactive learning tasks or actions.

  • Smart Searcher includes learning content on analysing a topic; choosing the right source; searching the catalogue; searching for journals and journal articles, using the web effectively and creating reference lists. It is aimed at undergraduate student level.
  • Smart Researcher is designed for researchers and higher degree students. It includes information and resources on University research support; planning and organisation; searching the literature; obtaining documents; evaluating search results; keeping up to date; managing information, and submitting and getting published.

These tutorials are updated regularly and provide learners with the opportunity to work through content in their own time and at their own pace.

The tutorials can be linked to from DSO or other learning environments and provide a valuable self-help resource for students. Direct links can easily be created using the URL of each tutorial main menu, as well as deeper links to the URL of individual modules.

Further Resources


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23rd September 2011