Librarians as Instructors for Credit-Bearing Classes – A Path Forward for Public Services?
Free Online Presentation
Monday, July 15, 2024
1:00-2:00 PM CST (US and Canada)
Presented via Zoom
The roles of public services librarians are many and varied. Some universities continue to title their librarians by subject liaison areas (e.g., “Social Sciences Librarian”), while others are more indicative of specific roles (e.g., “Scholarly Communications Librarian”). One title that does not seem to appear frequently, however, is “instructor of record,” and perhaps that is something that should change. As the amount of information students encounter on a daily basis increases, the need for long-term instruction in information literacy seems evident: not just teaching students how to discover, examine, and utilize information for academic pursuits, but teaching them how those skills apply to everyday life. What this might look like will, of course, vary from institution to institution, but it could take the form of credit-bearing, cross-disciplinary research classes, first-year experience or orientation infused with information literacy, or department specific information literacy courses.
At the University of Toledo, librarians have been teaching courses for several years; while the courses are housed in the Honors College or University College, the faculty who teach these classes are library faculty. This presentation will review the process for creating credit-bearing classes, and then discuss the pros and cons of taking public services in that direction, including pitfalls faced by the classes taught by University of Toledo librarians.
Presenter:
Jennifer Joe is the Undergraduate Engagement Librarian and an associate professor at the University of Toledo, where she has worked since January 2019.
Additional information:
If you can’t make this session but wish to view a recording later, please register so that you’ll receive an email that includes a link to the video of the presentation.
Please direct questions and concerns to Colleen Quinn (colleen.quinn@umgc.edu) and Jane Hammons (hammons.73@osu.edu), Co-Chairs of the ACRL ULS Professional Development Committee.
