Instructional Collaborations & Class Visits

For Instructors:

We welcome opportunities to teach and co-teach classes on research with Special Collections materials.

We are happy to guide instructors through the pedagogical approaches that our instruction librarians have developed for teaching primary source literacy during class visits to Special Collections.

Instruction Librarians in Special Collections teach and provide:

- Class visits in a variety of formats: from general introductions to opportunities to embed Special Collections materials and librarians in your course.
- An introduction to primary source literacy including locating and handling rare materials in Special Collections, and using rare materials in research.
- Hands-on in-class activities which introduce students to the independent research process and stimulate critical thinking skills.
- Identification of relevant primary source materials for your course topic (physical and digital materials).
- Consultation on the development of assignments requiring students to conduct research with primary sources.

Please use our Class Request Form to schedule a visit to Special Collections with your students.

Please submit your request for a class visit to Special Collections at least 4 weeks in advance to allow us time to prepare materials for your visit. Early notice is appreciated as our instruction calendar fills up quickly.

If this is your first time bringing a class to Special Collections, we require a consultation with one of our instruction librarians prior to the class visit. You will be contacted by a librarian to set up either an in-person or zoom meeting during which you will be asked to share your syllabus. During this consultation, you will have the opportunity to learn about our teaching model, as well as develop mutual learning outcomes for the visit and discuss the selection of primary sources for your class. 
 
Our main instruction room (DML 206) can accommodate classes of up to 20 students (see pictures below). The room is equipped with a retractable screen which may be used for presentations. We also have a smaller seminar room (DML 208) for groups of up to 6 students. All rooms in Doheny Memorial Library are equipped with WiFi.

If you have any questions or need special arrangements, please contact: specol@usc.edu

For Students:

If your class visit is scheduled to be held in Special Collections, please feel free to contact us about any accessibility needs or inquiries you may have at specol@usc.edu. 

Our classroom is located on the second floor of Doheny Memorial Library. A wheelchair ramp is located on the south side of the building through which you may access Doheny Library (via our Cinematic Arts Library). We also have elevators going from the ground floor or first floor to the second floor.

Below is a photo of our instruction space in Special Collections. During visits, students often stand for a longer time while working on materials that are placed on the counter tops of our book shelves. We are happy to provide a chair if a student may have problems standing for a longer period of time.

For any questions, concerns, or help with accessibility to our instruction space, please contact us at specol@usc.edu