Unravel the Library Workshop Series

Offering Basic Library Skills Instruction

Faculty are often frustrated that students enter their classrooms with little or no understanding of library research. In order to bring all their students up to the same level, many faculty make one or the entire Unravel workshops mandatory for their students.

The Unravel workshops provide students with foundational library skills. Librarians are also available to provide higher level, customized library instruction tailored to specific assignments and disciplines. [More information about Classroom Support].

Over 100 Unravel workshops are offered in the fall, and nearly 100 in the spring. Students may register for a workshop that fits into their schedule. New workshops are listed at the beginning of each semester.

Paper certificates are distributed at the end of each class to serve as proof of attendance. Lesson plans are available upon request.

Description of Workshops

Unravel 1: Orientation to the Libraries & Tour of Wilson Library

This is a very basic workshop designed to highlight services and resources the Libraries offer. Students complete an online "scavenger hunt”. Students learn how to read a citation and locate books and articles from a citation.

  • Orientation to services and resources available through the Libraries
  • How to read a book and article citation
  • How to locate books and articles from a citation
  • Tour of Wilson Library

Prerequisites: This workshop is designed for new students to the University and for students just beginning to use the University Libraries.

Unravel 2: The Research Process - Finding Books and Articles

The Libraries have offered this workshop over a 1,000 times and carefully monitor results of a brief multiple choice test given at the end of the workshop. Students consistently score 80% or better on this test.

Upon completion of this workshop students should be able to:

  • Identify appropriate article indexes and use them to find articles
  • Use search techniques to find article for their topic
  • Identify whether an article is considered scholarly or not

Prerequisites: Although there are no prerequisites, Unravel 1 is highly encouraged before Unravel 2 for students new to the University Libraries. As an instructor you can have students "test out" of Unravel 2 and have the results sent directly to you.

Unravel 3: Beyond the Basics - Advanced Searching

Unravel 3 expands upon knowledge and skills gained in Unravel 2. Participants learn both the art and science of advanced searching techniques. By the end of the workshop they will be able to:

  • Construct a simple search strategy
  • Use field searching
  • Use limiting
  • Use truncation
  • Use Boolean operators

Prerequisites: Unravel 2: The Research Process or prior knowledge of MNCAT, an article index, and the distinctions between scholarly and popular sources. We ask students to assess their readiness for Unravel 3 by taking the Unravel 2 test.

If you plan to send more than 30-40 students to these workshops, please contact Lynne Beck to make sure the Libraries can arrange for an adequate number of sessions. Many of these open workshops fill quickly.

You may also set up a customized workshop for your class with the librarian specializing in your discipline.