Faculty Services

Library instruction sessions are tailored to specific courses and assignments and may include an introduction to the library catalog, Online Resources and Databases, and an overview of the library's collections and services as well as more detailed presentations on the resources in a given subject area. Reference librarians provide library instruction to classes upon the request of the course instructor.

Please try to schedule library instruction well in advance. For more information or to schedule a library instruction class, you may:

• Contact your Library Liaison
• Email the Reference Department at reference@ric.edu
• Call the Reference Department desk at 401-456-8125

Library instruction at Rhode Island College is based on the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy. The framework was adopted by ACRL in 2016 and is a set of key threshold concepts an information literate student will develop throughout their college education, and beyond.

In brief, the concepts are:

• Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
• Information Creation as a Process
• Information Has Value
• Research as Inquiry
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Searching as Strategic Exploration

RIC's Committee on General Education (COGE), Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and Committee on the Assessment of Student Outcomes (CASO) ensure the college's Research and Information Literacy standards are included in course offerings across the curriculum and assessed regularly. These standards and assessment rubric are based on Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy and can be viewed on the COGE website.