Benefits of Faculty-Librarian Partnerships: Instruction

 
Generally speaking, librarians and faculty share similar concerns and goals. They want students to:

• Develop a greater understanding of and respect for books, journals & other intellectual property;
• Become information literate and Technology fluent;
• Become effective writers, problem solvers, and critical thinkers,
• Become self-directed, lifelong learners; and
• Contribute to the social & learning community on campus.¹

More specifically, librarians and faculty can work together to help students succeed in college and beyond to be able to:

• work independently to use print, nonprint, the catalog, databases, and the Web;
• evaluate, analyze, and synthesize information;
• understand copyright issues, privacy, free speech, and censorship. ²

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Arranging a Library Instruction Session

Why Schedule a Library Class?
Librarian-faculty partnerships can help reduce the anxiety that students feel when required to navigate the University of Maryland's large and complex library system. The value of scheduling a library research session includes:

• Students' frustration will be reduced by giving them confidence and concrete direction;

• Library research is not a clear-cut linear process. Students will be able to take new directions or unexpected turns in the research process if they understand the basic steps in researching libraries, databases, and the Web;

• For a small time commitment in the beginning, faculty will save time later answering individual questions about the research process, and the appropriate resources and online gateways to use;

• Students may earn better grades, because they will know how to find more and better information resources to support their research papers, projects, proposals, and other assignments.

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When to Schedule a Library Class?
It has been proven repeatedly that students master library and information skills better when those skills are integrated into their courses. Beyond that, faculty should work to:

• Tie a library instruction session to an assignment or schedule it when your students have chosen topics to research.

• Do not arrange to have a session too early in the semester before students have been assigned or selected topics.

• It is recommended that you arrange the time and date of the session as early as possible, even before the semester begins. The schedules of librarians and instruction labs fill up quickly!

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How to Plan an Effective Library Class?
Review the Directory of Librarian Subject Specialists to contact your librarian to develop targeted research classes with meaningful student learning outcomes. Here are some ways you can work with a librarian to tailor the session to maximize its impact:

• CUSTOMIZE CONTENT
  The content of the library instruction session can be tailored and designed to produce specific student learning outcomes. Learning outcomes answer the following questions:
  • What will my students know?
  • What will my students be able to do?
  • What will my students understand?
  • What will my students be able to appreciate?

• MEANINGFUL ASSIGNMENTS vs. SCAVENGER HUNTS
  Work with librarians to develop realistic and workable research assignments: Creating Effective Research Assignments. The least effective assignment possible (i.e. Scavenger Hunt) asks students to locate random facts. It lacks a clear purpose, does not teach students to do meaningful library research, and may be frustrating. Librarians rather than students frequently end up locating the answers.

  Librarians are eager to partner with faculty to build customized research resources pages for students; these pages are referred to by librarians as Course Related Web Pages. These pages are used in conjunction with scheduled library instruction sessions, and are not substitutes for instruction workshops.

• ACTIVE HANDS-ON LEARNING
  If your instruction session is reserved in a McKeldin Library instruction lab, students mostly likely will have their own computer to explore resources on their own and ask for one-on-one assistance with a librarian.

• TAKING LIBRARY INSTRUCTION ON THE ROAD
  Library instruction can happen almost anywhere. Librarians can bring laptops to Internet-wired classrooms. Or, can go to a classroom already equipped. Librarians can conduct library instruction in spaces in other equipped libraries (Performing Arts Library, Architecture, Art) and although there is no hands-on activities for students, resources will be demonstrated to your class.

• EXTRA CREDIT EXERCISES
  Work with a librarian to design a library assignment for extra credit outside of regular class time.

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Source Cited in Footnotes ^{1 and 2}

Hollander, Sharon A., Barbara R. Herbert, and Karen Stieglitz De Palma. (2004). Faculty-Librarian Collaboration. Retrieved October 27, 2006, from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=1541