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Library Guide for the Writing Center: Start Here

This guide provides information literacy and research help to Writing center tutors and clients.

The Research-Writing Cycle

Research isn't just a start-to-finish process! Instead, it includes many repetitions of the question-answer cycle shown below. Check out the graphic to learn more about the research cycle and to see how it involves each of the "habits of mind"!

Writing Cycle Graphic: Ask a Question (curiosity and creativity)> Search for Information (persistence and flexibility)>Read and Assess (openness and metacognition)>Consider Implications (responsibility and engagement).

What is Information Literacy?

These are two definitions of Information Literacy. Knowing what information literacy is will help you in your work as a writing tutor, and will help you understand what librarians do:

 

UNESCO Definition:

  • “as means to empower people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goals” (Horton Jr, 2008)

ACRL Definition:

  • “the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.”  (Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, 2015)

Library Guide for the Writing Center

The purpose of the Writing Center LibGuide is to provide Writing Center consultants and clients with a clear, easily navigable hub in which they can find instructions for use of the library’s resources and from which they can access those resources. Although this Guide is meant to specifically focus on the library’s research tools, it also includes instructions for conducting web searches outside of UA’s domains and subscriptions. Additionally, it conveys information regarding adequate citation of sources found using such techniques. Ultimately, the Writing Center LibGuide functions as a tool consultants and clients can apply during consultation sessions, both when they don’t know what research resources UA provides, and when they are unsure of how to adapt those resources to their scholarship.