Research Skills Tutorials

Welcome to the SUNY Empire State University Library's main information literacy learning site. From here you can select from a variety of learning opportunities to beef up your abilities for doing research and using the library to complete your studies and excel in the workplace.

Currently, there are 3 main paths for learning (more options will be added over time):

1. Library and Research Skills Micro-Course: an all-in-one abbreviated, more practical version of the Research Skills tutorial. It includes practice exercises and a culminating multiple-choice quiz that can be emailed to your instructor. It will replace the existing tutorial by Fall 2025. Covers: topic formation, search tools, search strategies, and scholarly sources + using database results page options. Takes ~ 1.5 - 3 hours of work to complete in full.
2. Library Workshops: a series of 4 distinct pages with video recordings and accompanying content, practice exercises, and quizzes. Covers: topic formation, understanding scholarly and non-scholarly sources, searching, and APA citing. Each workshop takes ~ 45 minutes to an hour to complete.
3. Research Skills Tutorial (will be decommissioned prior to Fall 2025 - replaced by micro-course above): existing self-paced tutorial covering the library and research in-depth. There are no quizzes for this. Takes ~ 5+ hours to complete.

4. Information Literacy Self-Assessment: a 12 question quiz on the basics of plagiarism, citing, and doing research. While a grade is assigned after submission, it’s not intended to be a course-graded assignment, but an introduction to information literacy and the research process for students just starting at the University so they can consider areas for self-improvement. Designed for 1^st term students and takes ~5-10 minutes to complete.

5. Library Scavenger Hunt: 10 open-ended question quiz tasks students with exploring various parts of the library homepage. Designed to familiarize students with the library and its main resources and services. Takes ~15-30 minutes to complete.

As always, one-time individual questions and issues can be answered via the 24/7 live Ask-a-Librarian chat service in the upper right of the library home page, and more in-depth needs and questions can be tackled by scheduling a 30 minute Teams Consult a Librarian session.

Please note: If you need to request accommodations with content linked to on this guide, on the basis of a disability, please contact Accessibility Resources and Services by emailing them.  Requests for accommodations should be submitted as early as possible to allow for sufficient planning. If you have questions, please visit the Accessibility Resources and Services website.