The purpose of these guidelines is to assist librarians in providing students and faculty with appropriate information about computerized sources of information, particularly national online and compact disc (CD-ROM) databases. The guidelines offer ideas for brief, medium-length, and long presentations on the use of online searches, including…

This collection of materials for a three-hour instructional program for young people and adults in the effective use of the public library includes an introduction to the program, a teaching guide for the librarian, a packet of materials for students, and a summary of 90 evaluations of the program as it was presented at two area libraries and…

When helping undergraduates assess materials, academic librarians balance the reference interview with instruction in electronic databases. This article describes a method connecting these tasks with a search strategy dependent on the user's information needs. The connection is made by labeling the user's need with a diagnostic tool based on…

Examines the reasons why "more" subject access in online catalogs is not necessarily "better" and recommends that librarians prepare a statement informing users of what they need to know before using the catalog and how best to make use of its listing. (EM)

Provides practical counsel for high school librarians for instructing students in basic research methods. Librarians are urged to use a vivid search strategy such as a flow chart and to provide hands-on experience in the classroom. Sample flow charts and a bibliographic search exercise are included. (CDD)

Describes the overall design, content, and use of Chemical Literature Exercises and Resources (CLEAR), a set of materials which introduces students to the chemical literature. Indicates that, overall, student evaluations of the CLEAR materials were very positive. (JN)

As libraries automate their collections and mount online public access catalogs (OPACs), they face special challenges in educating patrons to use these electronic systems effectively and efficiently. Because users are less familiar with the concept and arrangement of an OPAC than with a card catalog, less successful searches commonly occur.…

This project designed to teach library and thinking skills to grade 7 students emphasized the importance of metacognition. Students were asked to choose a research topic and to prepare and evaluate daily research strategies. Allotment of time for planning and reflecting on strategies was considered crucial to the project. (MES)

These two brief guides are designed to assist users in searching the GPO Monthly Catalog of Government Publications and the ERIC databases on CD-ROM produced by Silver Platter Information, Inc. Each guide contains step-by-step instructions for: (1) simple subject searching using basic Boolean connectors; (2) displaying and printing; (3) correcting…

Teaching how to choose a research topic in a bibliographic instruction class should emphasize the underlying methods and principles of library research while making research tools as unobtrusive as possible. This approach teaches the basics of scientific inquiry and provides a structure in which to teach library skills. (EM)

This report summarizes the proceedings of a conference that brought together 35 librarians, network representatives, and system vendors to exchange information on the training of users of online public access catalogs. Three papers are presented: "Historic Concerns in Library Instruction: Teaching the Card Catalog," by Evan Farber;…

Outlines the characteristics of TRAINER, a computer-based system designed to aid individuals in learning and practicing the search skills needed in using online bibliographic retrieval services. (FM)

This article outlines an Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) CD-ROM bibliographic instruction (BI) session at an academic library, which is intended to produce knowledgeable and competent ERIC searchers. The 1.5 hour lecture session includes: a basic introduction to the ERIC database; narrowing down a search topic; using the thesaurus…

Although this guide was designed to support "Pennsylvania Online: A Curriculum Guide for School Library Media Centers" (1985), the State of Pennsylvania curriculum guide for online searching, many of its components are also suitable for use by school librarians when teaching the elements involved in searching for resources manually. Designed to…

These instructions are designed to help patrons of the University of Missouri-Columbia library perform searches on PSYCHLIT, a CD-ROM (compact disc, read only memory) version of the Psych Abstracts database, and a CD-ROM version of the ERIC database, both produced by SilverPlatter Information Services. Basic information is provided about the disk…