The Community of Oklahoma Instruction Librarians (COIL) of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (OK-ACRL) invites nominations, including self-nominations, for the COIL Library Instruction Award. This award is given in recognition of excellence in instruction through innovative methods or exceptional dedication to providing the highest quality instruction. Nominations will be accepted through May 10th and the winner will be announced at UnCOILed in the summer.
On Friday, August 7, members of COIL and librarians from around the region gathered on Zoom for the annual summer workshop. The theme of the workshop was, “Information (Lite)racy: Bite-sized Instruction and Elevator Pitches.”
In the morning session, attendees learned about how to craft elevator pitches and spent some time in small groups practicing. In the afternoon, after a short presentation about short information literacy sessions, breakout groups tackled various instruction scenarios to create possible lesson plans.
If you weren’t able to attend, or would like to revisit some of your favorite parts, the workshop was recorded and can be viewed below.
Additionally, presenters have made their slides and resources available, and links to access them are listed below.
Morning session
Crafting Elevator Pitches: Advocating Library Services to Your Students and Faculty by Tracy Ashby
“My librarian is always right there for my students and me. Anything I need, I go to her and she is always happy to help. ” – Amy Ward, DSW
1. Back ground
“In the past, it felt like ‘good luck,’ but it is more interactive here. With my liaison librarian, if I can’t find something, she is always there to find it WITH me.”
2. Expectations
“First, maintain good internal customer service and be approachable for students and faculty. We need to know you will be kind to us. Second, curate updated and relevant information. We expect you to be the expert in information retrieval.”
3. What Works
“My librarian and I care about each other. Collaboration is all about relationships, and if you don’t have a strong relationship, you could be the best liaison in the world and you still won’t be collaborative.”
4. Advice
“Take the library and academic discipline out of the equation and come to faculty openly to try to establish a genuine rapport. Than you can introduce how you can be useful to one another.”
Amy Ward, DSW, is the Director of the Social Work Program at East Central University in Ada, OK.
“Whenever I have a problem, I immediately say ‘let’s call [my librarian]!”‘
Background
I’ve only had a librarian for 3 years, since I arrived at East Central University in 2016. I had never used a library before, but the experience here has been great.
Expectations
I need my librarian to be the bridge between me and the library at large by curating a more personalized experience and forging a one-on-one relationship. While I did not have expectations coming into this job, I definitely will for my next position, because I have been pleased with my librarian here.
What Works
My librarian and I work well together to develop accurate resources that students actually need.
Advice
Be open! What helps most is my librarian’s positivity, friendliness, and willingness to help. Her servant-leadership makes me want to collaborate.
Destany Schafer-Morgan, DSW, is the field director of the Social Work Program at East Central University in Ada, OK.
Waller’s Principle of Least Interest: The party with the least interest has the most power.
Goffman’s Gift Giving: If a librarian feels like receiving class time to teach is a “gift” from faculty, it contributes to the power imbalance.
Goffman’s Deference Behavior: Using deference in the form of qualifiers (“I’m sort of a co-teacher with Dr. X”) also contributes to the power imbalance.
Consider the language you use with faculty and how it contributes to the power dynamic.
Successful Faculty/Librarian Collaborations
A shared, understood goal
Mutual respect, tolerance, and trust
Competence for the task at hand by each of the partners
Ongoing communication (Meulemans & Carr, 2012, p. 84)
See the COIL blog for examples of successful collaborations.
Meulemans, Y.N. & Carr, A. (2012). Not at your service: Building genuine faculty-librarian partnerships. Reference Services Review 41(1), 80-90. doi:10.1108/00907321311300893
Level Up Your Collaboration with an Actionable Value System
Part 1
Create a teaching philosophy that answers the following
questions:
What are your objectives as a teacher?
How will you achieve these objectives?
How will you measure your effectiveness?
Why do you teach?
Part 2
What requirements should requests meet? What are you willing to do?
Examples:
Students must be working toward a research assignment.
No “point and click” database demos.
Instructors must provide a class syllabus and/or an assignment sheet prior to a session.
Part 3
What are common misconceptions about library instruction among faculty? How can you respond when faced with those misconceptions?
See the slides with sample participant responses to the activities at https://bit.ly/2xJH7si
My librarian re-energizes me and keeps me from getting in an instruction rut.
Background
I’ve had positive experiences working with librarians since I was a graduate assistant at Texas A&M in 2003, but I really appreciate the collaborative nature of the ECU Library, which emphasizes customization, as opposed to “canned” sessions.
Expectations
Develop information literacy curriculum for instruction sessions specific to departmental strategies
Communicate with us about discipline specific resources
Teach us to use unfamiliar tools
What Works
We have conversations about goals that are not just one-sided, with back-and-forth discussions about approaches and post-session reflections for improvement. We have professional respect for each other and engage before, during, and after instruction sessions.
Advice to Librarians
Maintain open discussion and display willingness to adapt and experiment.
Focus on evaluation techniques and embed in interactive instruction sessions.
Try to have consistent face-to-face conversations, as faculty are overwhelmed with emails and seeing their librarian’s face helps reorganize priorities.
Conduct brainstorming sessions with faculty to create learning goals, as opposed to focusing on specific tools.
Sarah Peters, P hD, is the Chair of the English & Languages Department at East Central University in Ada, OK.
