A dialog on teaching an undergraduate seminar in special collections

Abstract

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for the collaborative teaching of undergraduates in special collections and demonstrates how providing students with the opportunities to work rare books can result in meaningful experiences for both students and faculty. Design/methodology/approach-Collaborative teaching across disciplines, in this case an English faculty member and a librarian can be challenging and rewarding. This paper is written in dialogue form and highlights both perspectives. Findings-For academics and librarians interested in incorporating book history and special collections in undergraduate coursework, this paper underscores the benefits and pitfalls in planning such courses. Practical implications-This is an honest discussion on methods to engage undergraduates with rare books and exhibit preparations. Originality/value-As many library professionals seek to make their rare book collections more accessible through class instruction, this paper provides one pedagogical model with reflections on what we would do next time.

Science Instruction Through the Visual Arts in Special Collections

“…27 Recent articles illustrate the development of joint course work between professors and librarians for enhancing undergraduate learning with rare books and ephemera. 28 Broadsides, printed advertisements, menus, and posters are all typical examples of ephemera. In 2012, the ACRL published a collection of papers offering case studies and best practices for engaging undergraduates by using rare and unique…”

Using a Standards Crosswalk to Adapt Resources for Teaching with Primary Sources Across K–12 and Higher Education

“…11 Higher education teaching faculty have also detailed their efforts to include primary source materials in their teaching of everything from composition to history and mathematics, either on their own or through collaboration with archivists and special collections librarians. 12 This scholarship necessarily focuses on the group of students each instructor works with, and it inevitably (if unintentionally) reinforces a separation in the literature between uses of primary sources in K-12 and higher education. Yet, while faculty and library staff at the University of Colorado-Boulder describe how their collaboration could be replicated in other departments across campus, they do not discuss whether their work is applicable to audiences beyond undergraduate students despite recognizing that only 25 percent of visitors to their collections are university students.…”

Using theEighteenth-Century English Phonology Database(ECEP) as a teaching resource

“…A further advantage was that ECEP allowed students easy access to the data contained in the dictionaries; the historical sociolinguistics course did not have any academic prerequisites, which meant that my students did not necessarily have the detailed historical knowledge required to interpret the data as they stand. Therefore, combining ECEP with ECCO was helpful because students could not only use it for linguistic enquiry; it also helped them to understand how such an investigative tool is related to its source material, thereby developing a deeper understanding of the processes involved in making the resources they use (see Bond & Butler 2009 on using rare books and special collections for non-specialist students).…”