Re-defining the service experience: forging collaboration between librarians and students

Abstract

In response to changing pedagogical theory and practice in higher education, library designers have created innovative learning spaces that support informal learning outside the classroom. Informed by social constructivist theory, libraries can be justly proud of their new collaborative learning spaces that support interaction and discussion; social spaces that foster engagement and learning; as well as quiet places for independent study. The University of Melbourne Library is no exception, carrying out a program of works since 2007 to create dynamic and innovative spaces to support contemporary student learning in four successive library refurbishment projects. Although much attention has been paid to redeveloping student spaces in libraries, less attention has been paid to the interrelationship between library spaces and services and how this interrelationship and the pedagogical framework should jointly inform these redevelopments. It seems incongruous to redevelop student spaces to meet new pedagogical imperatives without rethinking the service experience, in particular the relationship between library staff and students, the model of service provision and the physical design of the service area. This paper focuses on the development of a new service model that is specifically designed to meet the needs of contemporary users at the University of Melbourne Library. In particular, the paper reflects upon the way in which the service desk has been transformed from a forbidding counterstyle barrier that formalised the traditional expert/student relationship to a service area where librarians stand side by side with patrons, where the emphasis is on partnering and collaborating with students and researchers. The development of this model represents an attempt to re-define the relationship between librarians and students in line with current pedagogical practice. Underpinning this service model is a complex program of workforce change, professional development and service refinement to ensure that staff at service points are able to deliver quality services that meet students' changing information needs.

Educating at scale: sustainable library learning at the University of Melbourne

“…Significant work has been undertaken in many areas to review and redevelop many library services to ensure that they meet current and emerging needs and are effective and sustainable (e.g. Ellis and Phillips, 2013;Warburton and Macauley, 2014;Humphreys, 2015). One of these is the library learning service which offers scholarly literacy programs to undergraduates, postgraduate coursework students and graduate researchers [1].…”

Collaborating with Nonlibrary Faculty for Assessment and Improved Instruction

“…Collaborations with students typically involve seeking student input in the design, development, and delivery of library services and programs. Recent efforts seek to engage the student in deeper and more meaningful collaborations, where students feel that they are providing strong direction in the strategic planning of libraries (Appleton & Abernethy, 2013;Barratt & White, 2010;Ellis & Phillips, 2013).…”

Makerspaces in Libraries: Technology as Catalyst for Better Learning, Better Teaching

“…Halverson & Sheridan [5] frame the role of makerspaces in education as simply a natural evolution of constructivist thought, from Dewey and Piaget through Seymour Papert's Constructionism. Ellis & Philips [1] further note that recent decades have witnessed the practice of education evolving away from the traditional teacher-focused "transmission-style of teaching and learning, which were teacher focused, to a variety of constructivist perspectives which focus on how the learner constructs meaning through active and social learning and personal context" [emphasis added]. Beyond traditional roles of selecting and providing access to shared resources, libraries are increasingly moving toward playing more central roles in the teaching and learning lives of their communities.…”

“…Increasingly, the learning associated with formal academic programs is taking place outside classrooms, driving an ongoing transformation across the educational landscape [1]. As educational practice continues to move toward a model more appropriate for the post-Industrial Age [2], librarians and the commons of library are becoming ever more integral to the learning and teaching lives of the communities they support, blending traditional roles of content provision with support of active and collaborative learning.…”