Overview:
The Library Instruction and Outreach Program at the Galvin Library serves the IIT community by teaching the skills needed to locate, retrieve, and evaluate
information.  Our instruction programs aim to develop student awareness of standard and unique resources that may be utilized when performing research; and provide an understanding of research methodology.  By fostering these skills we help students to become independent, self-directed learners who are better equipped as professionals in the information age.

Instruction is provided in a variety of formats to accommodate needs, requests, and schedules.  Library instructors teach at all levels from introductory to advanced and cover a broad range of types of information and retrieval techniques.   Workshops are available on a drop-in basis or can be scheduled in advance and specifically tailored for a course or program.   

Classes are held in the Library Learning Center, on the first floor of the library.  The Library Learning Center is a computer teaching lab designed to facilitate interactive learning. 

Audience:
Research shows  that students who participate in library instruction utilize the library more efficiently and conduct a higher level of research in their work.  Instruction librarians regularly teach sessions for both IPRO and ITP classes as well as other undergraduate and graduate classes.   Prospective students and their families get an introduction to the library as do new students during New Student Orientation week. 

Type of Instruction:
The library offers a variety of instruction designed to meet the needs of its patrons. 

• Subject Specific Instruction: Faculty and librarians collaborate on scheduled sessions in which faculty and students come to the library during the class period to learn about library resources essential to completing an assignment or furthering their education in their major.  These sessions introduce students to the major resources in their discipline, including specialized reference tools and a variety of database types including bibliographic and full-text.  These databases include resource material from journal articles of all types, technical reports, dissertations, conference proceedings, books, patents, chemical structures, numeric values of physical variables, and more.  Librarians have worked with faculty on course-specific instruction from virtually all departments. 
  
  

• QuickSkills Drop-In Workshops: The half hour Quickskills workshops cover the essentials of using library resources to find books and journal articles and provide an orientation to the library and its services.  The schedule of workshops is posted on a semester basis, at the beginning of each term.  Advance registration is not required. 
  
  

• Topical Drop-In Workshops:  Drop-in workshops are scheduled each semester on various topics including Government Documents, Patents and Standards, Advanced Internet Searching, and Information Literacy. 
  
  

• GIS Workshops: Students learn how to arrange and display numerical information in a geographical context in graphical form.  This greatly enhances the ability to make correlations and see trends. 
  

Format of Instruction:
Instruction is provided in a variety of formats to accommodate needs, requests, and schedules.  In addition, instructors are sensitive to different learning styles and cultural backgrounds. 

Instruction Librarians:  
The staff of the Galvin Library are here to assist you with all of your information needs.  Please contact us at the Reference Desk at 312-567-3616.  The reference desk (located on the second floor of Galvin Library) is continually staffed while the library is open.  The reference desk is staffed by professional librarians Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.   Reference help from student assistants is available during all other regular library hours.  Librarians are also available for classroom visits to discuss library services and resources.

Jeanne Link, Head of Instruction and Outreach  567-3374
Information Literacy, Library and Internet Resources

Aric Ahrens 567-3614
Government Documents

Charles Uth 567-5319
Engineering, Science