Booking a teaching session
Karlstad University Library offers teaching sessions to all students who have been admitted to a course or programme at the university, including both Bachelor’s and Master’s students. Together with you as a teacher, we adapt the sessions according to subject and the students’ needs. Teaching sessions at the library is free and our classrooms on floor 4 can host groups of up to 30 people. For larger groups, we ask that your department book a suitable room or lecture hall. We also offer remote teaching via Zoom.
In order to give the students the best possible opportunity to learn, it is important that the teaching session takes place in connection with a course component which allows the students to apply the knowledge and skills they acquire. Since we provide teaching adapted to several levels, it is also possible to create progression where the students’ skills develop during the course of the teaching sessions.
The teaching group consists of Marie-Louise Eriksson, Linda Borg, Irina Persson and Sandra Nelson.
Do you want to book a teaching session with the library's English language support? Find more information and contact details here.
Introducing the library
We offer both short introductory sessions where we present the library in connection with course and programme introductions, as well as longer introductory sessions where we talk in more detail about the resources available at the library.
Duration: 10-45 minutes.
Introductory course in information retrieval
This course introduces students to information retrieval and how to independently search for and review scientific material.
Examples of what the students will learn:
- What scientific material is
- How to search for scientific material
- Difference between a search engine and a database
- How to turn a search question into search terms
- Basic search methods
Duration: 1-2 hours.
Advanced course in information retrieval and referencing in preparation for an essay or a degree project at bachelor's level
An essay or degree project requires excellent skills in information retrieval and referencing. In this more advanced course, we build on the introductory course and give the students the opportunity to further develop their skills.
Examples of what the students will learn:
- How to turn a research question into search terms
- Advanced search methods and filtering tools
- Deeper understanding of scientific publication
- Using correct referencing for different types of scientific material
Duration: 2-3 hours.
Advanced course in information retrieval and referencing in preparation for an essay or a degree project at master's level
At Master’s level, many students are already familiar with information retrieval. In this advanced course, the students get to systematise their searches and we focus especially on developing a critical approach to the scientific material.
Examples of what the students will learn:
- Systematic approaches to information retrieval
- Critically review, evaluate and compare scientific material
- An understanding of impact factor and citation frequency
- Advanced search methods and filtering tools
- Using correct referencing for different types of scientific material
Duration: 3-4 hours.
Introduction to referencing
Correct referencing is an important part of students’ written assignments, but many students struggle with this task. In this course, students get a first introduction to referencing and gain an understanding of why and how we reference sources.
Examples of what the students will learn:
- Basic knowledge of the referencing system in question, for example, APA 7 or Oxford
- An understanding of different types of material and how the references should be designed
- Practical exercises
Duration: 1-2 hours.
Introduction to Zotero
Zotero is a free referencing programme that helps students organise and create references. Students should have basic referencing skills before taking this course.
Examples of what the students will learn:
- How to create references using Zotero
- How to organise their references using Zotero
Duration: 1 hour.