Sladen Reaches Beyond the Library Walls

The Sladen Library recently provided outreach to two eighth grade classes from St. Isaac Jogues Middle School located in St. Clair Shores. Students were charged with writing research papers on a particular disease or health condition that included both consumer and professional level information.

First, librarians went to St. Isaac Jogues to instruct students on: 1) how to critically evaluate health information online, 2) navigating a popular consumer health resource called MedlinePlus.gov, and 3) utilization of PubMed MEDLINE. Students were exposed to various types of literature in order to be able to discriminate between consumer and professional literature, and how each can be of use when pursuing the research process.

A few weeks later, it was time for the students of St. Isaac Jogues to get the opportunity to visit a medical library and explore the research process even further! Each of the eighth grade classes visited Sladen where they broke into groups and worked with a designated librarian to explore our book collection, MedlinePlus.gov, and PubMed. This learning opportunity provided students a unique way to learn about the research process, explore different types of literature, and be able to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources of information. Providing this type of educational outreach is just one way in which Sladen Library is supporting the ‘Service’ Pillar of Excellence. – Nandita Mani, MLIS

Photo: System Libraries Director Gayle Williams assists the students with online searching.