Typology: academic library initiative

Institution:
Library of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Erlangen

Address:
Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91051 Erlangen

Contact person:
Dr. Jens Hofmann – Jens.Hofmann@bib.uni-erlangen.de – Phone: +49 (0)9131/85-25894 – Fax: +49 (0)9131/85-29309

With more than 33.000 students, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is one of the largest universities in Germany, which offers an almost unique scope of subjects ranging from the Humanites to Law and Economics as well as Sciences, Medicine and Engineering. In this context, the University Library operates as a service centre for academic research and teaching as well as for Erlangen and the region, providing access to 5.5 million media items.

A broad range of information literacy training courses and library tours at the University Library cater to the needs of university students in the different stages of their studies, postgraduates, tutors, as well as external users.

Training is conducted by qualified librarians as well as subject librarians, who are responsible for the mediation of information literacy in their subject areas.

Training activities cover a variety of topics and formats:

-          Introductory as well as advanced courses on using library resources

-          Guided library tours

-          Courses on information management with reference management software

-          Courses for postgraduates, covering e.g. efficient search strategies, bibliometric tools for impact measurement, social networks for scientists, and open access

-          Courses for schools

-          Subject-specific introductions to efficiently using subscribed resources

-          Distance learning via e-learning tutorials and guides

keywords: library instruction – information literacy – training for university students – training for school classes – information searching – information retrieval strategies – independent online searching – use of scientific databases