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Library Instruction

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Developing Your Session

Developing Your Session

As librarians, our goal is to enhance student understanding of the research process by introducing them to the resources, tools, and methodologies needed to be successful in their courses. 

  • We work with instructors  to develop sessions tailored to meet the needs of a specific course or class. 
  • We incorporate active learning through activities in our session whenever possible
  • We work to incorporate inclusive teaching practices and frameworks such as Universal Design for Learning, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Trauma-Informed Teaching.
  • We seek to support your students in their projects while fostering information literacy, creativity, and thoughtful assessment and use of information sources.

Reach out to your librarian or fill out an instruction request early to schedule, collaborate, and customize your library session. 

Customizing Your Library Session

Once you have scheduled a library instruction session, it can be helpful to share your syllabus, relevant assignments, and any specific goals or requests with your session’s librarian. 

Let your librarian know if there are specific skills or research strategies you would like included in your session, such as keyword development, subject-specific databases, or evaluating resources (see Types of Sessions for additional topic examples). 

Customization can also include working with your librarian over the course of multiple sessions in order to cover a wider range of topics. Librarians can come in for two full classes or for a portion of a class period to cover selected materials.  

Librarians are happy to meet in person or virtually before the session to plan the session.

Incorporating Core Skills Video Tutorials

We offer a variety of Core Skills Tutorial videos that make an excellent addition or introduction to your library instruction session. These can be helpful pre-work resources for your students. Tutorial topics include a three-part citation series, basic and advanced search skills, focusing a research topic, evaluating internet sources, and more.

Any tutorial video can be embedded directly in your Canvas course either by using the YouTube icon in your Canvas page editor or by embedding the link using the "insert media" icon.

Librarians In Canvas

Adding a librarian to your Canvas course is similar to inviting them to drop in on your classroom from time to time. Librarians can:

  • Embed research guides (or portions of research guides) specifically created for your course.
  • Upload helpful research tips or tutorials.
  • Add scheduled workshops or instruction sessions to your course calendar.
  • Provide relevant and helpful tips on how to efficiently find, evaluate and synthesize information.
  • Share useful searching tips and appropriate research tools for assignments.
  • Collaborate with students on group assignments as desired by instructors.
  • Participate in discussion boards.


Please note: a librarian added to your course has limited access to edit items in your course, and they do not have access to grades or other sensitive information. Librarians consult with the instructor before adding material or links

How to Add a Librarian to Your Canvas Course

To add a librarian to your Canvas course:  

  • Open your Canvas course page
  • On the left hand navigation bar,, select “People” 
  • Click "Add (+) People"
  • Enter the librarian’s email address in this format: "BCusername@bc.edu"
  • Under “Role,” select "Librarian" 
  • Click "Add Users"


For support navigating Canvas, please reach out to centerforteaching@bc.edu with questions about using Canvas in your teaching. Contact BC LMS Support if you are having technical issues using Canvas.