Guidelines
for Librarians
The Commons relies on the three-way
collegial collaboration between librarians, class instructors, and Commons
staff. The following guidelines are intended to help librarians,
particularly those new to the Commons, understand how best to contribute
to this Library-wide instruction program.
Liaison work
Resource lists
Selection Criteria
Updating material
In-class Instruction Sessions
Faculty & student liaison
Librarians collaborating with Commons
classes serve as the primary Library liaison to class instructors and
their students. It is the responsibility of librarians
to develop working relationships with class instructors,
including such activities as communicating with instructors as to class
assignments needs, student needs, facilitating the submission of class
materials destined for the Commons website, and soliciting feedback
throughout the semester. Students needing individual or specialized research assistance related to
their Commons class should be encouraged to work with the collaborating
librarian. The librarian's
e-mail address on Commons class pages helps to make them visible and
accessible to students.
Resource lists
One of the chief responsibilities of
librarians participating with a Commons class is to compile a list of
resources that are relevant and useful for specific class
assignments. Typically, these include library research
databases and other research materials available in print or on the web
that are directly relevant to class needs.
These lists can be compiled through
collaboration (with the class instructor, with Commons staff,
with input from other librarians, etc.), or by the individual librarian, but with input and approval from the class instructor.
Instructors should be encouraged to give feedback on the Resources list,
and to make edits and additions to the selected list as they see fit.
The Commons goal behind the
Resources pages is to address fundamental concepts of
information literacy competency standards, explicitly or implicitly, rather
than attempt an exhaustive list of all things potentially
relevant. While librarians may learn quite a bit through the
construction of such a comprehensive list, students are often
confused and frustrated by the "exhaustive" approach,
not knowing which "resource" to choose, and remaining uninvolved in
the research process.
Resource
selection criteria include such things
as:
- Direct
relevance to specific class assignments
- Support for
student self-directed learning - students will learn through their own self-directed information-seeking
processes; relevant databases, search
engines or selected lists of directly relevant source materials that
students can use are preferable over long lists of
selected individual web pages or "every book" on
the topic
- Quality
over quantity - lists should provide adequate and focused
(not exhaustive)
coverage for specific assignments - focus on what's "most
important"
- Direct
relevance to what the instructor wishes students to learn
(for example, using specific databases, or specific information literacy
competencies - such as citing sources, website evaluation, etc.)
- Student research
potential - the goal is to facilitate and
stimulate student engagement in the research process, not to
replace it by listing numerous individual sources that may
or may not be of interest
It is important that students be able to
achieve an understanding of how the resources selected might
be used for their class assignments, what kinds of
information might they find using a particular resource, why
they should be interested in a given website, and where they can go for
more information. For this reason, annotations
are particularly helpful for student self-directed learning.
Updating
materials
Current classes:
Working with class instructors, librarians
are responsible for keeping their current semester Commons class materials (those
being offered in the current semester) up-to-date, which includes website
URLs, product updates, name changes, annotations, and so on. Commons staff
are in
charge of routine and technical maintenance, which includes file storage,
conversion, reformatting, and ensuring the website pages and their
components function properly. While Commons staff do check for broken URLs, librarians have primary responsibility for ensuring
the accuracy of the content of their own Commons class materials,
including correct URLs.
Please bring any errors, corrections, additions, and so on to the
attention of the Commons Program
Coordinator.
Older classes: Class
materials from previous semesters are to be regarded as archival
objects. As e-Library URLs change over time, Commons staff may
correct internal URLs to make pages functional, but broken URLs to offsite resources
will be allowed to stand. Oldest classes will bear a
disclaimer clearly stating this policy.
In-class Instruction
sessions & student consultations
Another chief responsibility of
librarians collaborating with Commons classes is to promote, develop, and
deliver in-class instruction sessions to these classes, and to be
available for individual research consultations, when applicable,
for students in these classes. Not every instructor participating
with the Commons wishes to include an in-class instruction session, but it
is the responsibility of the librarian working with the class to make the
instructor aware of this as a desirable option. In-class instruction
sessions should mention the availability of Commons materials for their
class; preferably, instruction sessions should provide students with
explicit information on how to access their class materials (for example,
the specific URL, where to locate the Commons website within the e-Library, etc.), as well as
information on the use of what they will find collected there. Class
instructors and librarians planning in-class instruction sessions should submit
class materials for the Commons website at least 1 week in advance of any
in-class instruction sessions. It is also helpful to inform the
Commons Program Coordinator of any unusual deadlines or special requests.
For comments
or questions, please contact
Susan A. Vega García, Program
Coordinator, Instruction Commons.
S.A. Vega García
