September 2019

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UnCOILed 2019: Summary of the Workshop – “2 Player Mode: Level Up Your Collaboration with Faculty”

ABCs of Persuasion

  • Attunement: Use empathy and recognize common goals to attune yourself to faculty’s perspective.
  • Buoyancy: Take control of your self-talk to stay buoyant after negative interactions.
  • Clarity: Help faculty identify problems they don’t realize they have, perhaps by asking to see student work.

From Dan Pink’s video: https://bit.ly/1nF15L8

Relationship Dynamics

  • 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:

  1. What are your objectives as a teacher?
  2. How will you achieve these objectives?
  3. How will you measure your effectiveness?
  4. Why do you teach?

Part 2

What requirements should requests meet? What are you willing to do?

Examples:

  1. Students must be working toward a research assignment.
  2. No “point and click” database demos.
  3. 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

July 2019

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Image of July blog post

Sarah Peters, PhD.

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.

June 2019

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June 2019 blog post

“When people use their librarian, it is a win-win-win!”

– Shelley Bailey, MSW

Background

This is my first time having a liaison, and I’ve discovered it takes a load off me as an instructor and allows my students to get better grades.

Expectations

I trust my liaison librarian to initiate and invite direct communication with my students and myself about department specific needs.

What Works

My liaison librarian does incredible things whenever I ask, and I know [she] is willing to do more than I have even opened my mind to. I am always in awe to have [her] as an extra help.

Advice to Librarians

Be approachable, and go to as many department specific meetings as possible to share what you can do. Also offer to meet with faculty between semesters to examine upcoming courses’ syllabi and help revamp research assignments.

Shelley Bailey, MSW, is a faculty member in the Social Work Program at East Central University in Ada, Ok.

May 2019

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May 2019 blog post

Interview with a Comp Professor

“I know I can count on [My Liaison Librarian] to check in, see what I need, and be open to new ideas to better serve students.” – Megan Donelson, PhD

Background

I’ve worked with librarians for 10 years at various types of schools, but this is my first time working with a liaison, and it is much more conducive to active collaboration, because I have just one contact person.

Expectations

I see [My Liaison Librarian] as being more than just a resource, because [she] can be more proactive about collaboration, and I know I can count on [her] to be continually working on new ideas.

What Works

Everything is tailored to how I specifically teach my sections of courses, rather than having a general format with minor adjustments.

Advice to Librarians

Make it clear that they [The Faculty Member] is not burdening you [the Librarian] by collaborating and vice versa. Also make it clear collaboration doesn’t increase anyone’s workload and makes everyone more effective.

Megan Donelson, PhD, is a faculty member in the English & Languages Department at East Central University in Ada, OK.

April 2019

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This is What a Librarian Looks Like: Oklahoma Edition

Description

A new digital gallery show, hosted by Schusterman Library at OU-Tulsa, displaying pictures and bios of Oklahoma Librarians. The show is created and curated by two Graduate Research Assistants who are also OU SLIS students

Inspiration

The idea for the project resulted from the collaboration of our librarians at the Schusterman Library during their annual retreat. The book by Kyle Cassidy, This is What a Librarian Looks Like, also helped inspire the exhibit idea and design.

Goals

“We wanted to use this exhibit to be an educational tool that shows what librarians do how they both embrace and defy the stereotypical librarian and how they serve the community through programs, services, and classes.”

Response

“We were overwhelmed by the positive feedback we received from the librarians who participated and how excited they were to share what they do and the programs, services, or classes they have been a part of.”

“It was inspiring to see how passionate these librarians are about their profession and how active they are in their communities.”

How to See the Exhibit

“We are currently working on a website that will display all of the contents presented in the exhibit. This way we can reach the librarians who could not make it down for the exhibit, but wanted to see the final product. We are also hoping to add a feature where librarians can add their profiles directly to the website to help expand the librarian profiles and provide a more diversified look at Oklahoma information professionals.”

“This has been an incredible opportunity that has allowed us to showcase what librarians do in Oklahoma and how they impact our community, and I am truly happy to have been a part of it!”

Tracy Ashby is a Graduate Assistant at the OU Schusterman Library with a degree in History from Louisiana State University and expected to graduate with her MLIS from OU in 2019.

March 2019

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The COIL 2019 Leadership Squad

Marla Lobley, Chair – Public Services Librarian, East Central University.

“I was excited to join COIL because I wanted to learn from other instruction librarians instead of having to reinvent the wheel.”

Holly Luetkenhaus, Chair-Elect – First Year Experience Librarian, Oklahoma State University

“[COIL] is a very hard-working, supportive community. It is very fulfilling and reassuring to meet and talk with others who carry the same kinds of values and priorities that you do.

Calantha Tillotson, Secretary – Instructional Services Librarian, East Central University

“I look forward to the unCOILed workshop every summer, as it allows me to laugh and learn with my fellow librarians who share my passion for information literacy instruction.

Cristina Colquhoun, Webmaster – Instructional Designer, Oklahoma State University

“Through COIL, I’ve met awesome librarians and have bettered my practice through the workshops! I highly recommend COIL to anyone working in library instruction in OK.”