Embedded Librarianship in a First Year Experience Program: Lessons Learned After 20 Years

Alfred Mowdood
Brandon Patterson
Dale Larsen
Donna Baluchi
Donna Ziegenfuss
Malissa Diener

Abstract:

Gain perspective on 20 years of embedded librarianship in a first year experience program. The program consists of teaching librarians lending their expertise in information literacy and academic research to support yearlong learning community courses grounded in a variety of disciplines: engineering, health sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and STEM. Hallmarks of this program are increased student retention and graduation rates, high levels of librarian involvement in curriculum design, and a campus advocate for partnership with the library. Walk away from this session with a better understanding for designing, building, teaching, and assessing library instruction in collaboration with faculty partners.

Full program Description:

Teaching librarians often refer to embedded librarianship as the confluence where inspiration, collaboration, and adventure happen. Embedded librarianship is rewarding and a pinnacle of library teaching and learning (Kemp, 2006). It is also complex, challenging, and requires continuous assessment. This panel presentation will highlight the experiences of four teaching librarians, with expertise in a range of topics, embedded in a state flagship institution’s first year experience program. Librarians will relay messages about varying teaching styles, collaborative efforts with faculty, student interaction, and aligning information literacy standards with discipline-specific curriculum. The program is comprised of two-semester cohort learning community courses grounded in a variety of disciplines: engineering, health sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and STEM. The primary partnership in each learning community are a lead instructor, a fully collaborative librarian partner, and a peer mentor selected from the top students of the previous academic year.

One highlight of the discussion will be results from a recently administered survey for all students in the program to assess their skills in information literacy. In the past, course assessment was administered course-by-course because of the varied teams and curriculum. However, during the 2017-2018 school year, funding was secured for a program-wide assessment using Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (SAILS) test (Kent State University, 2000). The SAILS Test confirms the benefits of having an embedded librarian in the courses and compares students in the program with other institutional and national information literacy initiatives. Librarians will speak to the role assessment has played in validating the librarian role in the classroom and how we’ve refined how information literacy content is delivered and infiltrated throughout coursework.

References:

Kemp, J. (2006). Isn’t being a librarian enough? Librarians as classroom teachers. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 13 (3), 3-23.

Kent State University. (2000). Project SAILS (Standardized Assessment of Information Literacy Skills) [Measurement instrument]. Retrieved from https://www.projectsails.org.

Learning Objectives

Objective 1: Contribute to the panel discussion by proposing your additional and alternative strategies in order to enhance the embedded librarianship discussion.
Objective 2: Identify relevant embedded librarian tools and strategies from the discussion in order to enrich your own library instruction context.
Objective 3: Reflect on how components of this embedded librarian case study could be used in order to enhance your library instructional program.

PowerPoint File

Handout that contains:

Assessment Data
Handout - Examples of Collaboration Tools