Abstract
The relationship between librarians and teaching faculty at academic institutions has been shaped for years by information literacy. Librarians are asked to provide library instruction sessions that are often part of a course syllabus with the deliverables of enhancing students’ research skills and encouraging them to use the library as a resource. Often these sessions are “one-shot deals;” the librarian meets with a class once during a semester and gives an overview of library resources that will help with the course assignments. While this model is still prevalent, the model of embedded librarianship has been developing as well, especially for online courses (Aquila & Wolfe, 2023; Bezet, 2013) and courses tied to the liaison areas of subject librarians (Manus, 2009; Díaz & Mandernach, 2017).
As the role of the embedded librarian has emerged, how that role is defined across academic institutions varies widely. Sometimes the librarian’s work is tied to a specific assignment with the “traditional” outcomes of linking the course syllabus and information literacy skills. Some librarians are incorporated into the course management system (CMS) and can add LibGuides and other library resources into the syllabus as well as be more visible to students for individual research appointments. Finally, some librarians are embedded at a deeper level, contributing to assignment design and course content. At the heart of the work of the embedded librarian, however, is the relationship between the librarian and the teaching faculty.
With the idea of relationships in mind, this presentation showcases a research study exploring the collaborative relationships between faculty and librarians embedded in a semester-long course, the targeted population. Sixteen librarians from various colleges and universities with responsibilities across several subject disciplines were recruited for in-depth interviews using a purposive sampling design and a maximum variation sampling strategy. Recruitment methods included direct communication with librarians who published and/or presented about embedded librarianship and colleagues who had experience as embedded librarians, as well as invitations via listservs of the Association of College & Research Libraries or similar organizations. The study’s research question was, “How do librarians describe their collaborative relationships with faculty in the context of semester-long courses with embedded librarians?” Through inductive analysis of the interviews, themes were identified and codes were developed and applied to the interview data. Of particular interest to this researcher was how each librarian described the concept of embedded librarianship, their role within the course, and rewards and challenges of their relationships with teaching faculty.
The roles of librarians continue to change and how we define our roles does as well – embedded librarian, subject liaison, information specialist. One driving force behind our work, however, remains consistent: relationships. This session may inform your current and future practices in librarianship, seeing how librarians and teaching faculty develop partnerships and ideally how the positive elements of these relationships influence their instruction strategies. The presenter will include time for discussion in addition to questions, allowing for exploration about librarians and teaching faculty as powerful teams contributing to student success.
References
Aquila, M. & Wolfe, J. L. (2023). Maintaining an established embedded librarian program for 15 years before, during, and post pandemic. Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning, 17(1-2), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533290X.2023.2221238
Bezet, A. (2013). Free prize inside! Embedded librarianship and faculty collaboration at a small-sized private university. The Reference Librarian, 54(3), 181-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2013.770351
Díaz, J.O. & Mandernach, M.A. (2017). Relationship building one step at a time: Case studies of successful faculty-librarian partnerships. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 17(2), 273-282. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.2017.0016
Manus, S. J. B. (2009). Librarian in the classroom: An Embedded approach to music information literacy for first-year undergraduates. Notes, 66(2), 249–261. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40539453
