Library Basics

Introduction

Welcome to the Marshall University Libraries! The goal of this unit is to enable you to begin building information literacy skills that will help you to be an efficient and effective researcher for the assignments that you will asked to complete in your courses.

Being “information literate” means that you are able to locate a variety of information resources for your assignment efficiently and effectively and able to evaluate and use these resources effectively. Information literacy is not learned in a single library session. It is the product of many research assignments and library instruction sessions throughout your university career.

Mastering information literacy competencies can help you in a couple of practical ways:

You will save time in doing your research.
You will learn to use high quality resources that will lead to better grades.

By completing this introductory unit you will be on your way to becoming an information literate person. You will:

be able to use the libraries’ web site to find information about the libraries and services of the University Libraries
understand how information is organized
learn introductory strategies for finding different information resources (books, articles)
differentiate between the library catalog, a periodical database, and the public Web
become more comfortable with using the library

Questions will show up during the tour to Quiz Yourself. At the end, there is a 5-question quiz.

Last updated 8/24/06 by Jennifer Sias and Floyd Csir. Credits: Created by Judith Arnold, Floyd Csir, and Jennifer Sias, July 2005.