Drawing on a scaffolded approach that moves from foundational competencies to advanced research and emerging literacies, the Tisch Library instruction program equips learners to navigate, evaluate, create, and share knowledge in an increasingly complex information environment. This Instruction Menu outlines the range of benefits to students, from learning essential research skills to understanding how information is organized, discovered, interpreted, and created within today's interconnected information ecosystem.
Foundational skills
Students enrolled in first-year writing classes receive foundational information literacy instruction as part of those courses. For students who haven’t taken first-year writing, the library offers an open Canvas course that provides foundational instruction that can be customized for subject areas in an asynchronous self-guided learning environment.
In foundational instruction, students learn:
- How to identify, locate, evaluate, and apply information effectively.
- Skills that support research papers and other course assignments
- How to navigate information analytically and ethically in academic, professional, and everyday contexts
- Basic concepts in AI and algorithmic literacy
Foundational skills instruction menu
Intermediate skills
To help students build on the foundational information literacy skills, undergraduate courses should include an intermediate instruction session with a Tisch librarian. This session emphasizes transferable skills that support academic success and informed decision-making across contexts, including evaluating information, analyzing evidence, solving problems, making data-informed decisions, and navigating complex information environments.
Students learn to:
- Refine a research question, problem, or information need and determine what evidence is needed.
- Evaluate and select sources appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, or information need.
- Assess sources using criteria such as authority, evidence, perspective, context, methodology, and purpose.
- Compare search tools and discovery methods to identify effective strategies for locating information.
- Develop an initial research strategy to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
These skills prepare students not only for disciplinary research but also for lifelong learning, professional work, and informed civic engagement.
Intermediate skills instruction menu
Advanced skills
Advanced skills workshops equip graduate students and upper-level undergraduates to work confidently at the intersection of disciplinary expertise, data, and emerging technologies. Through instruction in specialized resources, advanced research strategies, data literacy, algorithmic literacy, and AI proficiency, these workshops help learners understand not only where knowledge resides, but also how it is organized, discovered, interpreted, and created within today's interconnected information ecosystem.
In advanced workshops, students will learn to:
- Discover, evaluate, manage, and communicate information, evidence, and data.
- Understand disciplinary research practices and scholarly communication.
- Critically assess and ethically use AI and algorithmic systems.
- Connect knowledge across sources and disciplines.
- Adapt to evolving technologies and responsibly engage with knowledge.
Advanced skills instruction menu
Specialized skills
These workshops support students conducting original research by building skills in research data management, file organization, and scholarly communication. Students explore strategies for organizing and preserving research materials, working with specialized collections, and sharing research through publications, digital scholarship, visual design, and creative media.
In specialized workshops students will learn to:
- Organize, manage, and preserve research data and files.
- Locate, interpret, and analyze special collections materials.
- Apply digital methods and tools to support research.
- Communicate research through publications, presentations, visual design, and creative media.
- Understand ethical, legal, and professional practices for sharing research with diverse audiences.
Specialized skills instruction menu
Contact your subject specialist to request foundational or intermediate instruction or to developed an advanced or specialized workshop customized for your students' needs.