Librarian/Faculty partnerships in using library special collections to teach information literacy.

Type of Presentation

Panel (1 hour and 15 minutes presentation total for two or more presenters)

Target Audience

Higher Education

Abstract

In the summer of 2016, a social science librarian, a special collections librarian, and a political science faculty member collaborated in teaching a mix of juniors, seniors, and graduate students meaningful research skills. This presentation showcases an example of how a successful faculty/librarian partnership can simultaneously reinforce the importance of Information Literacy instruction while elevating the librarian’s relevance within courses heavily focused on research and writing.

This partnership applied the Framework for Information Literacy in utilizing the library’s extensive rare book collection for students to gain experience in identifying, locating, handling, and evaluating primary sources for their final research paper. With four scheduled library instruction sessions during the semester, the librarians were able to develop effective means of delivering information literacy instruction in the library’s new active learning classroom.

In partnership with the faculty member, the librarians created active learning exercises for each library session that covered different aspects of the research process. This included instruction on identifying primary and secondary sources, information evaluation, proper use of tertiary sources, and effectively searching the library catalog and databases. Based on review of the final papers, the presenters conclude that this cross-campus faculty/librarian partnership resulted in a dramatic improvement in student writing and research quality.

Presentation Description

In the summer of 2016, a social science librarian, a special collections librarian, and a political science faculty member collaborated in teaching upper-level students research skills. This presentation showcases a successful faculty/librarian partnership reinforces the importance of Information Literacy instruction while elevating the librarian’s relevance within courses heavily focused on research and writing. With four instruction sessions during the semester, the librarians were able to develop effective means of delivering information literacy instruction in the library’s new active learning classroom.

Keywords

Information literacy, special collections, Rare books, Primary Sources, Library/faculty partnership, Multi-session library instruction, Embedded librarianship, Active learning, Upper-level, Research & Writing

Publication Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

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Sep 29th, 12:15 PM Sep 29th, 1:30 PM

Librarian/Faculty partnerships in using library special collections to teach information literacy.

In the summer of 2016, a social science librarian, a special collections librarian, and a political science faculty member collaborated in teaching a mix of juniors, seniors, and graduate students meaningful research skills. This presentation showcases an example of how a successful faculty/librarian partnership can simultaneously reinforce the importance of Information Literacy instruction while elevating the librarian’s relevance within courses heavily focused on research and writing.

This partnership applied the Framework for Information Literacy in utilizing the library’s extensive rare book collection for students to gain experience in identifying, locating, handling, and evaluating primary sources for their final research paper. With four scheduled library instruction sessions during the semester, the librarians were able to develop effective means of delivering information literacy instruction in the library’s new active learning classroom.

In partnership with the faculty member, the librarians created active learning exercises for each library session that covered different aspects of the research process. This included instruction on identifying primary and secondary sources, information evaluation, proper use of tertiary sources, and effectively searching the library catalog and databases. Based on review of the final papers, the presenters conclude that this cross-campus faculty/librarian partnership resulted in a dramatic improvement in student writing and research quality.