Faculty Library Guide: Services

Library books, personal copies, or other class reading materials may be placed on Reserve for use by your students.

Placing items on reserve provides controlled access to materials for your students. The following materials may be placed on reserve at the Library Circulation Desk:

• Eckerd College owned books and videos
• Personal books, videos, sample tests or homework solutions
• A copy of an article from a journal*
• A copy of a chapter from a book*
• A short story, essay or poem*

*These items may be subject to copyright laws. For information see the Eckerd College Faculty Manual.

The following items may not be placed on reserves:

• Books borrowed from another library
• Items borrowed via interlibrary loan (ILL)
• Items rented commercially (e.g. Blockbuster videos)
• Reference materials
• Periodicals

For more information, please review the reserves website or contact the Circulation Supervisor  (x8337).

Library instruction is a useful tool for any class required to conduct research or gather information for presentations, assignments, or exams. In addition to guiding students to the best print and electronic sources for their research, library instruction can also reduce anxiety for less skilled researchers, assist in broadening or narrowing a topic, distinguish between scholarly and popular material, and give students a base to conduct future research.

Each instruction session is tailored to address the exact topics and areas of research in your class. So that we may customize each session to meet your needs, please use the following guidelines to schedule a session:

• Use the Library Instruction Request Form to schedule your session now.  We are happy to work with you to design sessions to be of most benefit to your students.
• Schedule an instruction session as far in advance as possible. In order to create custom user guides for each class, at least a two week notice is required.
• Due to limited space in the lab, class size is limited. If you have classes larger than 40, we may need to split the group into two sessions. If you have Internet access in your classroom, it will be possible for us to come to you. Allow additional time to set up the proper equipment.
• If you have any questions about scheduling library instruction or designing an appropriate library assignment, please contact the librarian who does instruction for your collegiums. 

Often we make the mistake to assume that students are "tech savy" therefore they can do library related research.  Project Information Literacy is a national study about early adults and their information-seeking behaviors, competencies, and the challenges they face when conducting research in the digital age. 

The Eckerd College Librarians are here to help your students with every step of the research process.  Please contact us to collaborate on assignments and provide the best instruction to meet your students needs.

The two short videos below summarize parts of the Project Information Literacy findings in relation to frustations students face when given a research assignment and how they rely on assignment handouts.

If we don't have an item you need, you may request that we get it for you from another library.

Once you fill out a request form you will receive an email when your items arrive; articles can be picked up online via your interlibrary loan account, and books can be picked up at the Circulation Desk.

There is normally no charge for this service.  However, faculty members receive a $25 annual stipend to help cover the cost of acquiring items that we are unable to obtain for free.  Please use your Eckerd College email userid and password to register for an ILL account.