Help Students Strengthen Their Research Skills — Recommend LIB 101
LIB 101 is a 1-credit, fully online, first-8-weeks course that gives students the research and critical thinking skills they need to succeed across the curriculum. It’s practical, approachable, and designed to make college-level research feel less intimidating and more effective.
In this course, students will learn to:
Turn broad topics into clear, researchable questions
Use library databases and tools with confidence (beyond basic web searching)
Evaluate authority, credibility, purpose, and bias in what they read
Understand how information is created and why the context matters
Recognize misinformation and make informed decisions as readers and researchers
Cite sources clearly, avoid plagiarism, and engage ethically with others’ work
Critically navigate AI-generated information and understand when (and when not) to trust it
It’s a fast, supportive class that helps students build research habits they’ll carry into writing-intensive and upper-level courses. For questions, please reach out to Angela Beaton at angela.beaton@mnstate.edu