Embedded Librarian Ideas: Best Practices Explored and Redefined
This paper explores the multitude of ways in which embedded librarianship can be implemented. Although the paper is primarily targeted to academic librarians in higher education settings, the literature examined and the ideas presented can support secondary and college level inter-disciplinary teaching initiatives. The ideas presented are sourced from scholarly journal articles, monographs, and best practices implemented by the author. Attention is given to programs where Information Literacy is infused into a school’s General Education curriculum. Academic librarian pedagogy, outreach, and networking strategies are also highlighted. The author is especially interested in projects that address student academic success after an embedded program is put into effect. Non-traditional embedded endeavors are especially of interest; programs where academic librarians embed themselves with high schools to support college preparation and readiness are discussed.
Urban Academic Library Outreach to Secondary School Students and Teachers
The Mervyn H. Sterne Library at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is located in an urban area and therefore receives traffic from the community, particularly area schools. We encourage visits from these schools in order to promote information literacy, higher education, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and we recognize the importance of the library in the development of responsible citizenship, education, and culture. Since we encourage students to develop research skills before they attend college, we collaborate with area secondary schools on projects, papers, and activities by providing research instruction and support both at the schools and in the library. This article explains the need for University collaboration, how Sterne Library integrates itself into the schools through classroom instruction and teacher workshops, and how we organize and conduct the instruction while promoting the Alabama Virtual Library, a group of online databases available to all students, teachers, and citizens of the State of Alabama.
Establishing our presence in courseware: Adding library services to the virtual classroom
Course management systems and software (courseware) are increasingly being used to enhance traditional college courses, yet library resources and services are noticeably missing from this venue. Libraries risk being bypassed by this technology and losing relevance to students and faculty if they do not establish their presence in courseware. Librarians need to be proactive in inserting links to resources and to library assistance within the courseware domain in order to retain visibility, increase relevance with students, and strengthen relationships with faculty. ********** Courseware such as Blackboard, WebCT, and others are increasingly being used by college and university faculty across the country to augment their traditional classroom courses. (1) According to the 2001 National Survey of Information Technology in U.S. Higher Education, nearly one out of every five college courses now makes use of courseware. Also, approximately 70 percent of private universities and 80 percent of public four-year colleges participating in the survey responded that their institution has purchased courseware. (2) Cohen notes that "Though course-management software is generally considered in connection with Web courses and distributed education, such software is actually used most often in traditional courses, to make them Web-assisted." (3) For the most part, unfortunately, academic libraries have been all too absent in the design, development, and implementation of courseware. (4) As a result, faculty do not think of integrating library resources directly into their courseware-enhanced courses. It is possible that faculty (who increasingly make course-related resources--reading and research assignments--available to students through courseware) and students (who use courseware in conjunction with the Web to search for and obtain their course-related materials) may not see the library as the first or even a relevant place to obtain the scholarly resources needed for their courses. Librarians may well find themselves and their services being ignored in a world where library services and resources are not included in the courseware domain. Academic libraries across the country are becoming increasingly aware that they must be included in the courseware domain in order to further assist faculty and students in locating and accessing appropriate library resources. (5) Long asserts that librarians" ... need to think hard about what services they wish to deliver to online environments and clearly articulate how they might be accessed from courseware systems." (6) Currently, there is little consensus on how to fit the library into courseware. In this article, several methods will be outlined by which libraries and librarians can insert themselves into the courseware domain. The focus will exclusively be on courseware used to enhance traditional classes. One broadly defined method, titled Macro-Level Library Courseware Involvement (MaLLCI), entails working with the developers and programmers of courseware to integrate a generic, global library presence into the software. Another method, titled Micro-Level Library Courseware Involvement (MiLLCI), involves individual librarians teaming up with faculty as consultants to participate in developing a customized library instruction and resource component for the courseware-enhanced courses. Benefits of Courseware It is important to understand some of the tools and benefits that courseware offers to the faculty and students who use it. This will enable a better understanding of the methods by which libraries can insert their presence and services into the courseware domain. There are many different types of course-management software systems available. However, most courseware share a certain core set of basic features, including powerful resource sharing, communication, and assessment tools. Dabbage, Bannan-Ritland, and Silc assert that the "use of these features can promote collaborative learning, enhance critical thinking skills, and give every student an equal opportunity to participate in classroom discussions. …