Instruction Librarians: Acquiring the Proficiencies Critical to their Work

Abstract

• ver the years, librarians have provided a variety of different types of library instruction. This study is based on the hypothesis that, although most literature suggests that some form of library instruction is necessary, most librarians don't have the skills needed to provide this instruction effectively. More and more positions in academic libraries require experience in, or the ability to provide, bibliographic instruction (BI). This article examines what skills BI librarians thought they needed to provide BI and to manage BI programs. It then examines what skills BI librarians thought they had, how they had acquired them, and how they thought they could best have acquired them. REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCHRobert E. Brundin noted that, in 1975, only four library schools had special programs to educate librarians to teach library skills.1 Brundin found the major reason for the lack of programs was that learning theory and teaching methods are not ordinarily part of library school courses. In 1980, Maureen Pastine and Karen Seibert reported that eleven of the sixty-seven library schools accredited by the American Library Association offered a separate course in bibliographic instruction (BI).

Librarians as Teachers: A Qualitative Inquiry into Professional Identity

“…11 Finally, Rebecca Albrecht, Sara Baron, and Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay used electronic discussion lists to survey instruction librarians on issues such as how preservice and continuing professional education opportunities helped prepare them for different aspects of their instructional work, the percentage of their professional time now dedicated to that work, and the challenges facing instruction librarians in the contemporary library environment. 12 Rather than draw on the quantitative tradition, however, this study will follow the example set by earlier research on professional identity among teachers and librarians and rely on qualitative research methods.…”

Untitled

“…Rating instruction proficiencies has been utilized by previous researchers (Shonrock & Mulder, 1993;Westbrock & Fabian, 2010) as a way to determine their relative importance to instruction librarians. The current approach deviated slightly in that OSUL instruction librarians were asked to not rate but, instead, rank order their top six proficiency categories in order to initiate indepth reflection on their value to individual instruction practices.…”

Utilizing learning theories in the digital age: from theory to practice

“…Can the library's teaching be a part of the ongoing medical education or research within your organization? (3) Build your own teaching competencies -Good teaching has a long list of competencies; in one study, there are more than 80 in total [16]. However, two-way dialogue and exchange between teachers and learners is a musthave skill.…”