4/19/2013

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LYRASIS PresentsThe Polite Debate SocietyTeaching the Tough Stuff: Exploring

the Librarian’s Most Difficult Instructional Challenges

Using this software

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Our panel

• Jessica Critten works as the First Year Programs Librarian at the University of West Georgia.

• Diane Fuller is the Director of Libraries and Upper School Librarian at the Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland, a boys K-12 independent day school

Our panel

• Annemarie Roscello is the Information Literacy Coordinator and Associate Professor at the Sidney Silverman Library, Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ

• Becky Hinton is a Training Professional at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, Topeka KS

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Moderator

• Russell Palmer• Supervisor, Professional Development• LYRASIS

The mechanics of searching

• Issues to discuss: – How important is it to teach?– The mechanics of searching vs. “where to look”– What is the role of the vendor as they develop search

products?

• Best practices-what works for you?

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Plagiarism

• Issues to discuss: – How important is it for librarians to teach it?– What is the role of the librarian?– Should this be a leading role for librarians?

• Best practices-What works for you?

Roles: Librarian/Faculty

• Path of librarian engagement, faculty/librarian roles, shared with me by a composition faculty member at a small junior college….

• I lead students through topic generation exercises (they choose their own research topics) and research question formulation.

• My librarian partner teaches one class session on refining the research question, determining keywords and synonyms, developing a search strategy.

• Librarian teaches the next class session applying the search strategy to reference sources, refining the research question, and transforming the research question into a thesis statement.

•

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Roles, cont’d.• I teach academic genres/media, citation fundamentals and

tools then lead students through citation practice.• Librarian teaches databases.• Students produce an annotated bibliography.• Librarian meets individually with each student to review

their bibliographies and chat about their research processes, re-teaching skills and adjusting topics or expectations as needed.

• Students keep researching beyond the bibliography to produce an argument essay.

• My arrangement is certainly not typical for English 101! I'm extremely grateful to my library partners for such generosity in my course.

Roles

• Not just teaching…• Training

– Staff training – User education in public libraries

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Learning to teach

• What are the biggest challenges to overcome?

• What other topics are challenging for us?• What teaching resources do you utilize?• Should we “crowd source” best practices for

teaching?

The role of our library education

• What role should our schools of library/information science play in teaching us to teach?

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• “Schools of library/information science should offer coursework and professional development for all future librarians on teaching how to teach. Teaching, particularly in this world of information overload, has become extremely important in all library settings. In addition to teaching how to teach formal classes, other forms of instruction such as online tutorials and working with patrons one-on-one should be explored. Knowledge of learning styles and learning theory assist all librarians in their work.”

– Nancy Everhart Director of the School Library Media Program and the PALM Center at Florida State University, and former President of the American Association of School Librarians, 2010-2011.

When we get out there…

• Recent survey results (research not yet published), posted to ili-l list by Radford University librarians Candice Benjes-Small & Rebecca K. Miller

“We ran this survey to gather background information on a book we are writing for Neal Schuman, Training for New Instruction Librarians, which should be released in 2015. We also hope to use these findings to write an article before then.”

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• The majority of respondents did not take a library instruction course while in library school

• Most first taught library instruction at an academic library (higher education)• About 15% reported their library offered an in-house training program for new

librarians• Approximately the same amount said there was no formal program but some

type of shadowing/observing or other informal activity was offered• Many of those who were offered no training explained that the library was too

small to have anyone to actually conduct training• A few respondents also noted that they came from a teaching background and

therefore did not need training• Observation of other librarians was the most commonly cited method of training• Many wished the training was on-going and not just at the beginning of

employment• Words people associated with their first instruction session: prepared, nervous,

frustrated• Of the ACRL Standards for Proficiencies for Instruction Librarians and

Coordinators, respondents felt most proficient in presentation skills and least proficient in assessment and evaluation skills.

Developing a personal pedagogy

• Why?

• How?

• What have you done/explored?

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Developing assessments

• Assessments that target outcomes

• Assessments that improve teaching

– Mutually exclusive?

“A survey developed by librarians and sponsored by Credo found that many college students falsely perceive their level of information literacy. The data collected suggests that while students display an understanding of information skills, they are not successful at the next step —application of the skill. These information skills are critical to success in the classroom, but they also extend beyond campus to prepare students for success on the job and in everyday life.”

http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displaytext.pl?RC=17716

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Survey says…

• “a majority of the 1,500+ respondents grasped the concept of information literacy as it relates to finding, evaluating and using information, 46% of students admitted to looking for a copyright symbol to determine accuracy of a source and over half admitted they were unfamiliar with the purpose and basic characteristics of scholarly journals.”

Wrap up:Questions? Comments?

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Thank You for Attending!

Questions?•Professional

Development•1.800.999.8558•Web: lyrasis.org

•e-mail: russell.palmer@lyrasis.org