Library Instruction

The library offers a variety of instructional services aimed at helping users become more adept at identifying, locating, and accessing print and electronic information resources in the UCSB Library and beyond.​ 

 

Instruction Program Mission Statement

The UCSB Library Instruction Program fosters information literacy skills, dispositions, and competencies to support students’ academic success and lifelong learning.

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) provides a framework for academic libraries and campus partners to direct and inform information literacy instruction. ACRL defines information literacy as a “set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.”*

Teaching and learning initiatives at UCSB Library are student-centered. The Instruction Program promotes critical thinking, self-discovery, and ethical participation in diverse learning communities. We offer credit-bearing courses, course-integrated sessions, workshops, and digital learning objects such as online research guides. The program encourages a spirit of inquiry to “stimulate independent thought, critical reasoning, and creativity”** through dynamic interactions with all students in a variety of learning spaces. Our work cannot be fully realized in isolation from the larger campus community; we, therefore, collaborate with campus partners to create a robust curriculum, offering expert support and education for all patrons to find, evaluate, use, manage, and challenge information.

* Association of College and Research Libraries. (2016). Framework for information literacy for higher education. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

** UCSB’s Mission Statement. Retrieved from https://www.ucsb.edu/about