Instructional Outreach Across the Curriculum: Enhancing the Liaison Role at a Research University

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a steady rise in interest among academic librarians in the idea of outreach. Outreach from the academic library can take many forms, but it is often built around a commitment to instruction. At Washington State University, a commitment to information literacy instruction across the curriculum and an organizational structure that includes both an independent Library Instruction department and a network of subject specialists has facilitated the rise of a programmatic approach to instructional outreach that allows librarians and faculty to work together to develop creative approaches to the integration of information literacy instruction across the academic curriculum. This article identifies some of the characteristics of new models for instructional outreach in the academic library and describes two instructional outreach programs at Washington State.