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Teach with the Libraries

We encourage faculty to draw upon the Libraries' collections, technology, professional staff, and facilities to enrich their teaching and promote student learning. We provide expertise, tailor our instruction to faculty needs, and aim to make students comfortable navigating the library's rich resources, including archival and special collections. Our instruction includes customized activities that facilitate classroom discussion, student-led inquiry, and critical thinking. As part of the Libraries' services for faculty, we offer the following instructional services:

  • Orientation to the library's collections, technology, staff, and spaces
  • Course-related instruction on subject-specific tools or collections
  • Self-paced learning about library research skills and resources for Canvas courses
  • Specialized instruction on citation management, digital humanities and digital publishing tools, geographic information systems (GIS) software, or social science data analysis software
  • Introduction to digital collections and related services to support teaching and learning
  • Custom research guides and learning objects created in collaboration with faculty

Request Instruction

Contact your subject librarian to talk about ways you can teach with the Libraries, or complete the instruction request form to get started.

In a library instruction session, subject librarians collaborate with faculty to provide point-of-need instruction on disciplinary research skills and specific resources available through the library. To design an effective library instruction session, please review these guidelines for instructors. A librarian may request an initial consultation to discuss learning goals and details of the session. 

Online instruction

Course guides

Subject librarians can create research guides highlighting key resources for your course. See example Course Guides here.

Northwestern Libraries Canvas Modules

The Libraries developed three Canvas modules to strengthen students’ digital and information literacy skills. Adding one or more of these modules to your Canvas course provides students with an opportunity to improve their knowledge of the research process and build their understanding of the library’s print and online holdings. Faculty can review the modules in Canvas Commons. You can import one or more of the modules to your Canvas course, or contact your subject librarian or Anne Zald for more customized instruction.

Sage Campus

Northwestern Libraries now provides access to Sage Campus, a suite of online courses focused on research and data literacy skills. Sage Campus provides an accessible and flexible option to grow critical academic and research skills with 40 self-paced online mini-courses. Initial access requires registration with your Northwestern email address. Registered users can access from anywhere at: https://classroom.sagepub.com 

Faculty testimonials

teaching with DTC

I want students to become familiar with the library and to use its resources, including consulting (human) librarians. Additionally, I think it is important that first-year students begin to understand the concept of "expertise," and seeing that a librarian has research expertise that their professors and the students themselves do not is an important lesson. They did better research for the target research paper AND for later papers for our class. ”

Lisa del Torto, Design Thinking & Communication, Writing Program

Bringing my classes to special collections...would be impossible without the amazingly knowledgeable and generous staff. The librarians make the visit possible and also help shepherd students through individual follow up visits.”

Susie Phillips, Department of English
teaching with rare books
teaching in Mudd library

This assignment comes the first week of fall quarter freshman year--I believe actively getting the students to the library and to see what they can get from the library as early as possible in their academic careers is vital to future success.”

Patti Wolter, Medill

Contact us

Questions? Contact your subject librarian, or complete the instruction request form to get started.