Welcome to LIB 2, An Introduction to Using the Academic Library. The Hartnell College reference librarians hope that you will enjoy this class, and that it will open your eyes to the wealth and variety of resources available to you as a Hartnell College student. We hope that the skills and information gained in this course will be useful to you in your classes at Hartnell, and in future academic endeavors.
Since this is a self-paced class, you have the unique opportunity to create your own class schedule. Successful students work at this class weekly, and on a regular basis. All class assignments are available on the library's web site www.hartnell.edu/library. The reference librarians here at Hartnell are committed to guiding and assisting you throughout this class. Don't hesitate to ask questions!
As you progress through your college classes, you will discover that you are expected to research topics for speeches, essays, and research papers. Your instructors may assume that you are familiar with a variety of research resources, that you know how to use these resources, and that you can cite them correctly in a specified publication style. They may expect that you are an experienced user of the Internet and they may tell you to go to the library and search the EBSCOhost and ProQuest databases. If you haven't written a research paper before or if your research skills are limited, this class will help you gain the necessary research skills to succeed in your college classes. You will learn about both print reference tools and electronic resources, and you will gain hands-on experience using these tools.
We look forward to working with you, and we wish you the best of luck as you begin this class.
Sincerely,
