Finding Historical Information to Prepare a Speech

This instructional session was requested by Danielle Vignes, a professor in the Communication Studies Department at Louisiana State University. The e-mailed request came early in the semester to reserve the physical classroom. The professor sent an attached copy of the assignment with the e-mail. There was little discussion thereafter as to what or how I would instruct the students. The class, CMST 2060 Public Speaking, is one of the core classes in the Communication Studies program. Many students in the Communication Studies program are exposed to library instruction through one-shots in core English classes and through the required one-credit information literacy class, LIS 1001, Library Research Methods and Materials. However, there isn’t a way to determine which students have had prior library instruction. Therefore, the focus of this session was designed around the parameters of a specific required assignment for which the students needed to find information about a period in United States history. Introductory library skills such as catalog searching were not included in the lesson plans. Library instruction was given three consecutive times in one day. Each CMST 2060 class consisted of an average of twenty-two students and one faculty member. Each session was almost ninety minutes. Instruction took place in an electronic classroom in the library. The electronic classroom has twenty independent work stations plus a teacher’s workstation connected to a ceiling-mounted projector.