The UT Libraries are a partner in first-year student success. Librarians lead instruction opportunities and develop customized learning resources designed for students enrolled in First-Year Composition, First-Year Studies, and Transition 201 courses.

Through participating in these experiences, students will be able to:

• Explain and locate different resources and services available to them through the Libraries
• Identify ways of asking for help from librarians
• Utilize effective search strategies, such as using keywords and synonyms, in the Libraries’ OneSearch and databases
• Describe ways of evaluating information resources before incorporating and citing these sources
• Begin to explore connections between their lived experiences and critical information literacy concepts
• Understand how they, as researchers and creators of knowledge, impact the Volunteer community
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Spring 2021 Instruction

To best protect the health of our students, faculty, and staff, first-year instruction for Spring 2021 will be offered in online formats.

Online Workshops

We are excited to offer a series of live online workshops, which will allow students to choose sessions that best serve their needs, and allows librarians the time to go more in-depth with research skills and strategies than allowed in typical face-to-face instruction sessions. All sessions will have a recorded lecture component of approximately 30 minutes, with working time afterwards for students to practice their information literacy skills.

Workshops will be held on Monday afternoons at 2:15 p.m. Registration links are available below. Recordings of past workshops available here.

• January 25: Welcome to the Libraries!
• February 1: Know Where to Go – Secondary Sources
• February 8: How to Write a Research Question
• February 15: Let’s Get Subject Specific! How to Navigate Subject Specific Databases and Developing Effective Keywords
• February 22: The Studio: Creativity Made Simple
• March 1: Know Where to Go – Primary Sources
• March 3: Secondary Sources Q&A Session. This drop-in session will not be recorded.
• March 8: Archival Research at Special Collections
• March 15: Information Privilege 2.0
• March 22: Algorithmic Bias 2.0
• March 29: Librarian AMA *This drop-in session will not be recorded.
• April 5: Librarian AMA *This drop-in session will not be recorded.

Specialized Instruction

• The Libraries offer first-year instruction and consultation opportunities focused on media literacy and media-based assignments, as well as Special Collections and archival research instruction. Visit The Studio and Special Collections pages to learn more about these options.

Resources for Teaching

• First-Year Composition Research Guide
• Workshop Wednesdays: Students as Scholars (Fall 2020 recordings)
• Digital Teaching Collections Guide
• Citing Sources Guide
• PowerNotes (Research Annotation and Organization Tool)
• Online Tutorials

Contact Us

• First-Year Composition: Charissa Powell, Assistant Professor and Student Success Librarian for Information Literacy, charissa@utk.edu
• First-Year Programs: Amber Sewell, Research Assistant Professor and Teaching and Learning Librarian, asewell1@utk.edu
• General inquiries: libinstruct@utk.edu