Presentation Title
A Warm Welcome: Restructuring Reference Services with New Library Faculty
Type of Presentation
Panel (1 hour and 15 minutes presentation total for two or more presenters)
Target Audience
Higher Education
Location
PARB 126
Abstract
East Tennessee State University, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, serves a growing number of students from various backgrounds. Sherrod Library serves as the main campus library and is located at the heart of campus. The library contains other services such as Information Technology Services, tutoring, and is the temporary home of numerous university support services. This past Fall, Sherrod repurposed a first-floor space to serve as walk-in reference. This new service model is staffed by two new faculty librarians, Evan Schmoll and Sara Maeve Whisnant, both with prior reference experience at other institutions.
Prior to Fall 2019, Sherrod Library did not have evening or weekend reference consultation hours. The new hired faculty field questions from a variety of subjects from nursing to storytelling. Evan and Sara Maeve went through an onboarding process for the library three weeks prior to the implementation of this new library service. This allowed them to have a general feel for the library and services before the start of fall semester.
Presentation Description
In this presentation you will learn about services provided, how to engage students and introduce a new service, as well as on-boarding suggestions for new faculty. This presentation will include handouts used in reference consultation services.
Keywords
reference services, student engagement, information literacy, subject specialists, research consultation, faculty orientation, on-boarding
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Whisnant, Sara M. and Schmoll, Evan, "A Warm Welcome: Restructuring Reference Services with New Library Faculty" (2020). Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy. 4.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gaintlit/2020/2020/4
A Warm Welcome: Restructuring Reference Services with New Library Faculty
PARB 126
East Tennessee State University, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, serves a growing number of students from various backgrounds. Sherrod Library serves as the main campus library and is located at the heart of campus. The library contains other services such as Information Technology Services, tutoring, and is the temporary home of numerous university support services. This past Fall, Sherrod repurposed a first-floor space to serve as walk-in reference. This new service model is staffed by two new faculty librarians, Evan Schmoll and Sara Maeve Whisnant, both with prior reference experience at other institutions.
Prior to Fall 2019, Sherrod Library did not have evening or weekend reference consultation hours. The new hired faculty field questions from a variety of subjects from nursing to storytelling. Evan and Sara Maeve went through an onboarding process for the library three weeks prior to the implementation of this new library service. This allowed them to have a general feel for the library and services before the start of fall semester.
