Use of the East Los Angeles College Library Online Tutorial

This information has been provided for librarians, instructors, faculty and other educators interested in learning more about the East Los Angeles College Library Online Tutorial, and Searchpath, upon which it is based. If you have contributions or suggestions about using this tutorial, please email us.

What Is the East Los Angeles College Library Online Tutorial?
The East Los Angeles College Library Online Tutorial is a resource for ELAC students, a self-instructional tutorial to teach them basic library and research skills. It covers the research process from initial topic selection to citation styles and the issue of plagiarism.

Its content is organized into six modules:

Each of the six sections takes about 10-15 minutes to complete, and students can do this on their own time outside of class. Each of the modules is followed by a short quiz.

Who Is It Designed For?
This tutorial is designed primarily for introductory-level research classes. It can be used with any class that has a library research component.

How Can Instructors Effectively Use this Tutorial with Their Courses?
Please have students complete this tutorial before they begin their research or attend a library session. Students can complete the tutorial on their own time and submit their quiz results to you.

Each module is followed by a short quiz and a results page, which provides a summary of questions answered right or wrong and an overall percentage score for that module. The results pages can be printed out with the student’s name at the top and submitted to you as proof of completion. We have not assigned a "passing grade" for these results, but leave that to your discretion, (e.g., whether or not you consider 80%, etc. a passing score). Many instructors have chosen to give extra credit points to students who complete the tutorial.

Does this Tutorial Replace Library Instruction?
No! Both the Main Campus and the South Gate libraries offer Information Competency Workshop to teach students more in-depth research skills. The South Gate library also provides instructional sessions tailored to individual courses. The Information Competency workshops are the sole method of instruction at the Main Campus library during the library renovation. Students can attend the workshops outside of scheduled class time and will receive verification of their attendance upon completion of practice exercises. The workshop schedules are available on the library homepage: http://library.elac.edu

We hope that you will incorporate library instruction into your syllabus. Timing is important! Please refer your students to the appropriate workshop after your class has received a research assignment, so students learn about searching the library databases at a time when they need to know this information. Making workshop attendance a course requirement holds students accountable for their own learning. Moreover, research shows that:

• Students learn best and retain most when they need the information.
• Library instruction is more effective when coordinated with a class assignment.
• Library instruction is more effective when students practice newly acquired research skills.

Please advise students to sign up for workshops at the library's circulation desk one day in advance. If you have any questions, please contact:

Amy Guy, phone: 323-267-3775, email: guyal@elac.edu or
Erika Montenegro, phone: 323-415-5008, email: montene@elac.edu
Ran Gust, phone: 323-265-8628, email: gustrg@elac.edu or
Antonio Ng, phone: 323-265-8626, email: nga@elac.edu or
Choonhee Rhim, phone: 323-265-8625, email: rhimcl@elac.edu or
Unjoo Lee , phone: 323-267-3774, email: leeu@elac.edu or

Gabriella Lopez (South Gate Educational Center), phone: 323-357-6214, email: lopezgm@elac.edu