96 · SPEC Kit 296
Pennsylvania State University
German, Comparative Literature, History, Communication Arts and Sciences, Art, Art
History, Music, Geography, Rural Sociology, American Studies, Architecture, Landscape
Architecture, Art Education, Higher Education, and Language and Literacy Education.
Presentation of instructional sessions is governed by the Special Collections Instruction and
Tours Policy, and it is an expected part of the responsibilities of library faculty in public
services units. Those course instructors wishing to have a Special Collections class
session for their course should contact the specific faculty or staff member in Special
Collections or the Head, Public Services and Outreach to arrange for the session. Knowing
the intended dates and number of students is necessary for room scheduling purposes, as
is the content of the session and the materials to be presented.
The Special Collections faculty or staff member should plan to meet with the course
instructor beforehand to learn about the intended outcome of the class session – are
students expected to complete an assignment using our materials or is this simply an
informational presentation for students to learn about options they may have for future
research? If there is an assignment where materials will be pulled for them, posting a
notice on the Special Collections Reference Blog is necessary so that all staff at the
reference desk know to expect these students and where materials are that have been
pulled for them. If any of the students will be using Special Collections for the first time, it is
highly recommended that they be told what to expect in terms of registration and
identification, locker use, reading room rules, copying, and working with staff to identify and
retrieve materials, since these are all quite different from working in other parts of the
library.
Generally, library instruction sessions are designed to help guide students to appropriate
resources through effective search strategies, and thus they tend to emphasize teaching
the use of valuable reference tools, databases, and special indexing and abstracting
services. Penn State’s library instruction program focuses on creating information literacy
skills – the ability to find and assess information, to determine the nature of the information
found in various sources, its value in meeting research goals, and how it contributes to
increasing knowledge. Since Special Collections materials are often unfamiliar to students
and challenging to locate, instructional sessions need to be more than “show and tell.”
Instruction should also emphasize the nature of primary sources and their value as
evidence in the research process of the discipline. Sessions should also help students
learn how to locate special collections materials in the CAT, and other relevant databases
and tools.
Special Collections faculty also offer credit courses under the Library Studies rubric, or
team teach with other faculty in courses offered by other departments. Library Studies 490,
Archival Management, is cross-listed with History 490 and is usually offered every fall. This
course teaches students the principles and practices of the administration of archival and
manuscript materials and is a useful course both for students interested in a more in-depth
understanding of research using archival materials, as well as being preparation for
students interested in a career in archives, library science, or museum studies. Faculty can
also offer Library Studies 496, Independent Studies, or 495, internship credit courses
based on pre-approved, individualized plans of study.
Individual instructors are responsible for entering data about their instructional and outreach
sessions (classes, as well as tours, special programs, lectures, slide presentations) into the
Libraries’ Instructional database. Information required includes the date, time, and duration
of the session, who it is for, where held, and the number of participants. Class sessions
data will also include the class designation, college, and name of instructor. Credit courses
taught by Special Collections faculty are entered on a per-class session basis.
Literature
Publications – brochures, pamphlets, hand-outs, etc. – are a standard form
of outreach for Special Collections. Providing visitors and researchers alike
with something to take away with them as an information resource, or
reminder of some facet of their visit, can be a useful tool. Today, those at
a distance are more likely to consult the Special Collections web pages
than they are to call or write for a publication, and all of the information
available in publications is also available on-line. In fact, in the future, if
not already, there will be far more information available through the
Special Collections web pages than in print form, although we will continue
to create some forms of publications regardless of on-line availability.
Brochures, leaflets, and flyers are all species of single sheet publications,
often printed on both sides. Brochures are usually designed to be folded
(tri-folds, for example) and may be printed on heavier stock leaflets and
flyers are usually unfolded hand-outs with the text laid out to be read as a
single sheet.
Pennsylvania State University
German, Comparative Literature, History, Communication Arts and Sciences, Art, Art
History, Music, Geography, Rural Sociology, American Studies, Architecture, Landscape
Architecture, Art Education, Higher Education, and Language and Literacy Education.
Presentation of instructional sessions is governed by the Special Collections Instruction and
Tours Policy, and it is an expected part of the responsibilities of library faculty in public
services units. Those course instructors wishing to have a Special Collections class
session for their course should contact the specific faculty or staff member in Special
Collections or the Head, Public Services and Outreach to arrange for the session. Knowing
the intended dates and number of students is necessary for room scheduling purposes, as
is the content of the session and the materials to be presented.
The Special Collections faculty or staff member should plan to meet with the course
instructor beforehand to learn about the intended outcome of the class session – are
students expected to complete an assignment using our materials or is this simply an
informational presentation for students to learn about options they may have for future
research? If there is an assignment where materials will be pulled for them, posting a
notice on the Special Collections Reference Blog is necessary so that all staff at the
reference desk know to expect these students and where materials are that have been
pulled for them. If any of the students will be using Special Collections for the first time, it is
highly recommended that they be told what to expect in terms of registration and
identification, locker use, reading room rules, copying, and working with staff to identify and
retrieve materials, since these are all quite different from working in other parts of the
library.
Generally, library instruction sessions are designed to help guide students to appropriate
resources through effective search strategies, and thus they tend to emphasize teaching
the use of valuable reference tools, databases, and special indexing and abstracting
services. Penn State’s library instruction program focuses on creating information literacy
skills – the ability to find and assess information, to determine the nature of the information
found in various sources, its value in meeting research goals, and how it contributes to
increasing knowledge. Since Special Collections materials are often unfamiliar to students
and challenging to locate, instructional sessions need to be more than “show and tell.”
Instruction should also emphasize the nature of primary sources and their value as
evidence in the research process of the discipline. Sessions should also help students
learn how to locate special collections materials in the CAT, and other relevant databases
and tools.
Special Collections faculty also offer credit courses under the Library Studies rubric, or
team teach with other faculty in courses offered by other departments. Library Studies 490,
Archival Management, is cross-listed with History 490 and is usually offered every fall. This
course teaches students the principles and practices of the administration of archival and
manuscript materials and is a useful course both for students interested in a more in-depth
understanding of research using archival materials, as well as being preparation for
students interested in a career in archives, library science, or museum studies. Faculty can
also offer Library Studies 496, Independent Studies, or 495, internship credit courses
based on pre-approved, individualized plans of study.
Individual instructors are responsible for entering data about their instructional and outreach
sessions (classes, as well as tours, special programs, lectures, slide presentations) into the
Libraries’ Instructional database. Information required includes the date, time, and duration
of the session, who it is for, where held, and the number of participants. Class sessions
data will also include the class designation, college, and name of instructor. Credit courses
taught by Special Collections faculty are entered on a per-class session basis.
Literature
Publications – brochures, pamphlets, hand-outs, etc. – are a standard form
of outreach for Special Collections. Providing visitors and researchers alike
with something to take away with them as an information resource, or
reminder of some facet of their visit, can be a useful tool. Today, those at
a distance are more likely to consult the Special Collections web pages
than they are to call or write for a publication, and all of the information
available in publications is also available on-line. In fact, in the future, if
not already, there will be far more information available through the
Special Collections web pages than in print form, although we will continue
to create some forms of publications regardless of on-line availability.
Brochures, leaflets, and flyers are all species of single sheet publications,
often printed on both sides. Brochures are usually designed to be folded
(tri-folds, for example) and may be printed on heavier stock leaflets and
flyers are usually unfolded hand-outs with the text laid out to be read as a
single sheet.
