Research & Instruction Services

Madeleine Clark Wallace Library » Research & Instruction Services

Research Librarians instruct and support all members of the Wheaton community in locating and using information resources. They can help you:

• Use Wheaton's library catalog or those of other libraries.
• Prepare a search strategy for your topic.
• Select the appropriate database or print index to search.
• Efficiently and effectively search for information using online databases and the World Wide Web.
• Think critically about information that you discover, particularly on the Web.
• Find factual information in the Reference Collection.
• Find your way around the Library.

Need help researching your topic? Call (x3700) or drop by the Information Desk (hours) or contact a Research Librarian for assistance.

Research Appointments

Individual research appointments can be made with the appropriate research librarian when in-depth, uninterrupted assistance is needed. Students working on junior or senior theses should work with the research librarian who serves as liaison to the particular academic department involved.

Library Tours

Research Librarians and students assistants conduct tours to acquaint students and their parents with the Library and its services, particularly during First-Year Student Orientation. Additional tours can be requested. Contact Margaret Gardner, Coordinator of Research & Instructional Services (x3705) to make arrangements.

Library Workshops

The Library, often in collaboration with Academic Computing staff, sponsors a number of workshops for faculty, students, and staff around specific thematic topics, as introductions to particular databases, on web searching and evaluation, etc.

Instructional Services Program

Teaching students how to efficiently and effectively locate and use the ever-expanding information resources and tools, both print and electronic, available in the library and over the campus network is a mission the Wallace Library takes very seriously. It is a task that, since the inception of the Dana Faculty-Librarian Partnership Program in 1989, has been accomplished most effectively by collaborations with faculty so that information is critically evaluated and integrated with course content to become part of a meaningful learning process.

To this end, five research librarians and are assigned several academic departments with which they work closely. In addition, the College Archivist / Curator of Special Collections provides instruction as appropriate. Course-integrated library classes are planned collaboratively and tailored to meet the goals of the particular course, from the First-Year Seminar through the Senior Seminar, and are linked to a particular assignment. Writing intensive courses are particularly well served by this approach. We ask that faculty allow a one, but, preferably, two weeks advance notice when arranging for a library session.

The Mabel Tingley Woolley Class of 1925 Electronic Classroom

Most library classes are held in the Woolley Electronic Classroom,an impressive teaching space that enables hands-on learning of skills involving computers, as well as discussion and demonstration.

First-Year Seminar Library Component

Library components of each First-Year Seminar section offer students an introduction to Wheaton's Library, its information and human resources, by teaching them basic skills for information access, strategies for effective research, and methods for critical evaluation of information. Librarian liaisons for each seminar are assigned each May.

First-Year Seminar Library Component Goals Statement