Library participation in a campus‐wide teaching program

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to chronicle the participation of the Colorado State University Libraries in a campus‐wide teaching program sponsored by the campus center for teaching and learning, and discusses the opportunities provided by such participation for academic librarians in general.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses a case study approach to explore one academic library's participation in a campus‐wide teaching program sponsored by the institution's center for teaching and learning. The aim of the article is to demonstrate how the program works, and to discuss the potential for similar programs at other libraries.FindingsThe library's participation in a campus‐wide teaching program has strengthened ties with the campus center for teaching and learning; improved the instructional skills and knowledge of faculty and professional staff; and highlighted the importance of teaching and learning within the library.Practical implicationsThe author presents a blueprint for instructional collaboration with the campus center for teaching and learning, and suggests that such programs will greatly benefit reference and instruction librarians.Originality/valueThis article will benefit reference and instruction librarians who seek to improve their teaching skills. Relatively few articles have investigated collaborative relationships between libraries and centers for teaching and learning in which librarians participate as students.

Academic Librarians’ Educational Factors and Perceptions of Teaching Transformation: An Exploratory Examination

“…Moreover, researchers conducting a study of 788 Canadian library staff with instructional responsibilities found that many used self-directed or self-selected postgraduate professional learning experiences (e.g., attending workshops, reviewing the literature) or informal job-based learning offerings to prepare for their teaching responsibilities (Julien & Genuis, 2011). Other scholars have focused on how librarians have used such resources, including job-embedded professional learning (Click & Walker, 2010;Nichols Hess, 2016;Shamchuk, 2015;Walter, 2006), instruction-centric institutional offerings (Hoseth, 2009;Otto, 2014), and a variety of professional mentorship relationships (James, Rayner, & Bruno, 2015;Lorenzetti & Powelson, 2015;Mavrinac, 2005) to support their own teaching identity development. These researchers' works emphasize that academic librarians only begin to learn the pedagogical essentials after they earn Master's of Library or Information Science (MLIS) degrees.…”

Visions of the Possible: Engaging with Librarians in SoTL

“…Still in her home department within the library, she had space and resources within the center and was publicly listed as a member of its staff. Hoseth (2009) has considered how librarians in this context can work with other educational developers to help disciplinespecific faculty or even entire programs design effective pedagogies for library research and other information literacy skills. Beyond this traditional subject matter, though, this more focused role of librarian as developer meant that she had to develop deeper knowledge of SoTL, ready like educational developers for "practices require that we 'know in' [not just 'know about'] that discipline by participating in shared problem solving, discussions, debates, and commitment to learning and teaching" (Taylor, 2010, p. 60).…”

A Faculty–Librarian Collaboration Success Story: Implementing a Teach-the-Teacher Library and Information Literacy Instruction Model in a First-Year Agricultural Science Course

“…Librarians are included in this learning ecology model and are identified as a vital resource for their knowledge and experience in successfully integrating library resources and research skills into class assignments. Furthermore, CSU librarians have a long history of collaborating with TILT (Hoseth, 2009). Librarians have contributed to TILT by compiling information sources, designing research guides, participating in resource fairs, teaching short courses, providing workshops about designing effective library assignments, and teaching critical thinking skills.…”