Connecting with Faculty

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Connecting with Faculty

• April 17, 2008 - WAAL Conference

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Presenters

• Tom LoGuidice
• loguidit_at_uwplatt.edu
• Regina Pauly
• paulyr_at_uwplatt.edu
• Jennifer Snoek-Brown
• snoekbrownj_at_uwplatt.edu
• Kay Young
• young_at_uwplatt.edu

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Why Connect?

• Benefits both faculty library/ librarians
• Technology has changed the way librarians do
  business
• Rise of information literacy has created an
  environment ripe for collaboration

Cook, 2000
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Many Mutual Goals

• Want students to develop greater understanding
  and respect for intellectual property
• Enhance student literacyespecially information
  literacyand help them become better writers,
  problem solvers critical thinkers, and life-long
  learners
• Build learning community on campus

Hollander, Herbert DePalma, 2004
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Definition of Collaboration

• This definition may contain many things that we
  donot specifically focused just on information
  literacy
• Includes
• Going into classrooms
• Having classes come to the library
• Meeting one-to-one with faculty, for
  professional/personal needs
• Creating online modules for use in/outside
  classroom setting

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Cross-Cultural Experience?

• Faculty and Librarians operate in different
  spheres and may speak two languageseven when
  both are in English!
• Intersection can be considered to be place
  where both groups meet within larger context of
  institutions mission

Hutchins, 2005
Faculty
Librarians
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Status

• Librarians often do not give ourselves enough
  credit for all we do
• Many of us do not have faculty status
• We often buy into, or are influenced
  by,societys ideas on what a librarian is

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Status contd

• Librarians operate under service-oriented model
• Librarians are generalists with wide
  interdisciplinary knowledge
• We may have a Masters degree but most do not go
  on for a PhD

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Faculty Perceptions

• Faculty voices have not been featured enough so
  our knowledge of and understanding of faculty is
  often by second-hand accounts of their
  behaviorreports are by librarians for
  librarians

McGuinness, 2006
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Thoughts from the Literature

• Librarians value the search, faculty value the
  answer
• An institutional culture as well as a
  departmental one
• Faculty like control in their classroom
• Prefer to set assignments
• Discuss research process in their class
• Explain discipline-specific resources (how many
  library science professors ask librarians to come
  into their classes!)

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Thoughts from the Literature contd

• Value librarians more for support role, rather
  than teaching role (i.e. collection development,
  reference assistance, finding materials through
  ILL)
• Dont necessarily see librarians as equals
• Faculty often talk about the library rather
  than librarians
• More interested in scholarly resources than the
  librarys instructional program

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Thoughts from the Literature contd

• Facultyunlike librariansdont see separateness
  due to status, or organizational issues, as a
  problem

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Obstacles

• Faculty are time-poor, combining
• Teaching
• Research
• Service to college/community
• Administrative duties
• Keeping current in their fields
• Protective of professional autonomy
• May be only person on campus in area
• Profession affords this

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Obstacles contd

• Research often valued over teaching
• Campus structure does not promote many
  opportunities for team-teaching
• Some faculty think their students know
  computersand thus research
• Past negative experiences with librarians

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Study Why Do We Collaborate?

• Manuel, Beck Molloy 2005 study
• Why do faculty collaborate with librarians?
• Best practices
• Results
• Faculty focused on course-related goals
• Faculty felt accountable for librarian
• Faculty often felt time constraints

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Study contd

• Faculty used librarian because
• Students lacked research skills
• Combat use of the Internet
• Because students need to develop an evaluative
  response to information

Manuel, Beck Molloy, 2005
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Study contd

• Faculty felt best results occur when
• Librarian is enthusiastic
• Gear teaching specifically to their class rather
  than a generic lesson
• Offer hands-on approach
• Librarian is knowledgeable
• Faculty felt worst results occur when
• Librarian misdirects students
• Miscommunication between librarian and course
  goals

Manuel, Beck Molloy, 2005
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Study contd

• Faculty felt benefits to librarian collaboration
  included
• Students were more efficient
• Student produced better results
• Students felt more confident with their research
  and with librarians

Manuel, Beck Molloy, 2005
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Faculty Opinions at UWP

• Survey sent to faculty collaborators
• 24 responses
• 96 rated working with a librarian a very
  positive experience for me or my students
• 61 saw the library as a dynamic, interactive
  environment
• Comments
• While these librarians might modestly claim they
  are only doing their job, my experience is that
  they have frequently gone well above the standard
  requirements of their jobs

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Faculty Opinions at UWP

• Comments contd
• Much as I still revere the library as a physical
  place, a sacred temple of learning central to any
  community I have come to appreciate the vast
  possibilities of interaction and portability
  afforded by advances in library technology and
  the Internet. Our library is admittedly limited
  by its funding, but given those limitations, they
  have certainly striven to provide as much variety
  of servicein the library, across campus, and
  onlineas they can.

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Faculty Opinions at UWP

• Comments contd
• I am a critical thinking curious person and
  librarians feed my addiction for knowledge and
  new ideas.
• The only problem I have had with individuals
  working in the library is that often there are
  not enough librarians.

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Changes in Higher Education

• As more students are part-time and
  non-traditional, more demands placed on the
  library
• Distance Education makes the campus and the
  library a world-wide institution
• As funding is cut, opportunities arise for
  collaboration

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Librarians Faculty A Natural Fit

• In any of our regular roles and duties, we work
  with faculty
• Liaison
• Teaching
• Reference
• Community Service
• Outreach
• Promotion Marketing

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Personal Examples

• Liaison
• Find highly reviewed materials appropriate for
  purchase
• Library guides
• Create and maintain Resources by Academic
  Discipline web pages
• Teaching classes
• Purchase faculty requests (e.g. puppets, videos,
  tests, kits, etc.)
• Attend faculty/dept. meetings

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Personal Examples contd

• Teaching
• Collaboration beyond intro library sessions
• Collaborate with Teaching Excellence Center to
  introduce faculty to new online library
  databases/features, work individually with them
  on their research
• Teach Intro to College Life classes
• Scavenger hunts for classes, incl. Intro to
  College Life
• Work with thesis classes

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Personal Examples contd

• Teaching, contd
• Taught Computer Applications in Education course
• Team-taught with Tom, Ethnicity and Gender Equity
  in Education
• Step in for faculty when absent
• Co-taught a course with education faculty in
  Wuhan, China
• Pull materials for classes (specific assignments,
  themes, etc.)
• Online library modules

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Personal Examples contd

• Reference
• Assist students, faculty, provost at Reference
  Desk
• One-to-one consultations with Psychology students
• Work on faculty research, now co-presenting in
  Oxford, England
• Help faculty with personal research projects
• Research campaign for citation tools
  (RefWorks), teach faculty workshops

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Personal Examples contd

• Community Service
• Campus committees (e.g. Faculty Senate, IRB, APC,
  Graduate Council, Higher Learning Commission,
  NCATE technology committee)
• Serve on Public Library Foundation board, invite
  faculty onto the board
• Host international students
• Volunteer for campus events
• Work with Provost in Delta Kappa Gamma, an
  educational institution

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Personal Examples contd

• Outreach
• Promote health materials with government document
  librarian at annual Health Fair
• Received campus, and system-wide grants to
  sponsor faculty staff book clubs
• Create and maintain the librarys Plagiarism
  Prevention web page (offers classes as well)
• Write and edit newsletter (print/online)
• Socializeattend campus-wide events

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Personal Examples contd

• Promotion Marketing
• Write press releases
• Create, coordinate, and promote library displays
  in cases bulletin boards
• LibQual survey
• Promote library librarianship across campus
  whenever possible

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Celebrate Accomplishments

• Personal success stories on your own campuses
• Thank You!

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References Resources

• Bell, Steven J. and J.D. Shank. Academic
  Librarianship by Design A Blended Librarians
  Guide to the Tools and Techniques. Chicago ALA,
  2007.
• Briggs, Laura E. and James M. Skidmore. Is
  Librarian-Professor Collaboration Worth the Time
  and Effort? Co-operative Strategies for Improving
  Undergraduate Research Skills. Resource Centre
  for Academic Technology at the University of
  Toronto (PowerPoint). 31 Jan. 2007.
• Cook, Doug. Creating Connections A Review of
  the Literature. The Collaborative Imperative
  Librarians and Faculty Working Together in the
  Information Universe. Eds. Dick Raspa and Dane
  Ward. Chicago ACRL, 2000. 19-38.
• Crowley, Bill. Tacit Knowledge, Tacit Ignorance,
  and the Future of Academic Librarianship.
  College and Research Libraries 62.6 (2001)
  565-584. Wilson Web. 4 April 2008.

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References Resources contd

• Dewey, Barbara I. The Embedded Librarian
  Strategic Campus Collaborations. Resource
  Sharing and Information Networks 17.1-2 (2004)
  5-18.
• Dewey, Barbara I., ed. Library User Education
  Powerful Learning, Powerful Partnerships. Lanham,
  MD Scarecrow Press, 2001.
• Feldman, Devin and Susan Sciammarella. Both
  Sides of the Looking Glass Librarian and
  Teaching Faculty Perceptions of Librarianship at
  Six Community Colleges. College Research
  Libraries, 61.6 (2000) 491-498. Wilson Web. 4
  April 2008.
• Gregory, Gwen Meyer, ed. The Successful Academic
  Librarian Winning Strategies from Library
  Leaders. Medford, NJ Information Today, 2005.

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References Resources contd

• Hollander, Sharon A. , Barbara R. Herbert and
  Karen Stieglitz DePalma. Faculty-Librarian
  Collaboration. APS Observer 17.3 (2004). 9
  April 2008 lthttp//www.psychologicalscience.org/ob
  server/getArticle.cfm?id1541gt.
• Holtze, Terri L. 100 Ways to Reach your
  Faculty. 9 April 2008 lthttp//www.ala.org/ala/pio
  /campaign/ academicresearch/reach_faculty.pdfgt.
• Hrycaj, Paul and Michael Russo. Reflections on
  Surveys of Faculty Attitudes Toward Collaboration
  with Librarians. The Journal of Academic
  Librarianship 33.6 (2007) 692-696. Wilson Web.
  4 April 2008.
• Hutchins, Elizabeth O. Building Strong
  Collaborative Relationships with Disciplinary
  Faculty. The Successful Academic Librarian
  Winning Strategies from Library Leaders. Ed. Gwen
  Meyer Gregory. Medford, NJ Information Today,
  2005. 13-29.

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References Resources contd

• Manuel, Kate, Susan E. Beck and Molly Molloy. An
  Ethnographic Study of Attitudes Influencing
  Faculty Collaboration in Library Instruction.
  Relationships Between Teaching Faculty and
  Teaching Librarians. Ed. Susan B. Kraat.
  Binghamton, NY Haworth Press, 2005. 138-161.
• McGuinness, Claire. What Faculty ThinkExploring
  the Barriers to Information Literacy Development
  in Undergraduate Education. The Journal of
  Academic Librarianship 32.6 (2006) 573-582.
  Wilson Web. 4 April 2008.
• Moore, Melissa. Reeling Em In How to Draw
  Teaching Faculty into Collaborative
  Relationships. Resource Sharing and Information
  Networks 17.1-2 (2004) 77-83.
• Raspa, Dick and D. Ward, eds. The Collaborative
  Imperative Librarians and Faculty Working
  Together in the Information Universe. Chicago
  ACRL, 2000.

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References Resources contd

• Simon, Rose Ann. The Faculty/Librarian
  Partnership. Increasing the Teaching Role of
  Academic Libraries. Ed. Thomas G. Kirk. San
  Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1984. 55-62.
• Stoffle, Carla J., Alan E. Guskin and Joseph A.
  Boisse. Teaching, Research, and Service The
  Academic Librarys Role. Increasing the Teaching
  Role of Academic Libraries. Ed. Thomas G. Kirk.
  San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1984. 3-14.
• Ury, Connie Jo, Joyce A. Meldrem and Carolyn V.
  Johnson. Academic Library Outreach Through
  Faculty Partnerships and Web-Based Research
  Aids. The Reference Librarian 32.67-68 (1999)
  243-256.