Abstract
This chapter seeks to explore the myriad ways that libraries can leverage expertise to specifically enhance the services undergraduates receive at a large research university. Partnering with nontraditional campus units can expand on the traditional academic library liaison roles. The chapter highlights the development of three nontraditional campus collaborations with different entities on campus and how they were or are developing: Athletic Academic Affairs, the Experiential Learning Network, and Residence Education. The authors discuss the successes, challenges, and failures faced by the library and the new partners. The goal is to outline the ways other academic libraries can build collaborations of value with academic departments that are often overlooked.
TopBackground
In 2016, a new undergraduate curriculum was developed and implemented at the University at Buffalo. Within the new undergraduate curriculum, a modern approach was taken to first-year composition and information literacy (IL). To provide the necessary instruction, the University Libraries created the Education Services team to offer their pedagogical expertise in providing IL education for incoming first-year students. These librarians played a significant role in shaping what would become iLab, a one-credit, information literacy lab embedded in a first-year student writing and rhetoric course called English 105 (ENG105). All instruction was scaffolded towards a final deliverable, using the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education for direction and guidance (Framework for information literacy for higher education, 2015).
iLab reached approximately 1,400 students per semester and roughly 60% of all undergraduates ended up taking iLab, usually as first-year students. Students were spread out on average through 90 class sections and approximately 70 of them were “standard sections” for native speakers of English, coordinated by the English Department, and approximately fifteen sections were strictly comprised of English Language Learners (ELLs), which were coordinated by the English Language Institute (ELI). All the sections ran with about 20 to 24 students per class. By 2017, the Education Services team grew to nine librarians to scale and deliver the content to all the iLab students.
Since 2016, the amount of face-to-face class time librarians had with students decreased in each standard section of iLab, beginning with 13 interventions and eventually decreasing to four interventions a semester by 2020. In addition, librarians were no longer responsible for one-credit hour of instruction with graded deliverables. This was due to the changing focus of the first-year composition course that iLab was attached to, as the English department started shifting towards a peer feedback model and wished to dedicate the credit hour to that instead. The Education Services librarians modified their intervention to be delivered as a scaffolded series of modules throughout the semester in each individual standard section of the first-year composition course. In contrast, the 15 sections run by ELI received 10 interventions with instruction and graded stakes. The ELI director still wanted the information literacy and research process taught in its entirety due to the difficulties English Language learning (ELL) students can have with information literacy. This meant that there was a split between the standard sections and the ELI’s in terms of the information literacy instruction they received.
Due to these changes, by 2020 the Education Services team began to explore other ways to embed themselves among the undergraduates to deliver information literacy content in both formal and informal settings across campus. This included finding “underserved populations” on campus to provide library support services. The result was collaborative partnerships with Athlete Academic Affairs, the Experiential Learning Network, and Residential Education.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Underserved Populations: Groups that have typically not been focused on in a particular setting and therefore may not be receiving the services they need.
HyFlex: A concept of teaching where students determine if they will attend class in person or remotely but are delivered the same content in either setting.
P.E.A.R.L. Model™: A model developed by Dr. Mara Huber, University at Buffalo, used to activate the potential of high-impact experiential learning to support academic and career goals.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): A measure used to evaluate the success of an organization in meeting performance goals.
Geographic Information System (GIS): A system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data.
Quizizz: An online student engagement platform instructors can use to create quizzes and other teaching materials. Students can access the quiz on their personal device via a numeric code.
Scaffolding: An idea of building each class or presentation off the work that came before to provide context and a stable underlying platform for students to learn and build from.
Capstone: A project that encapsulates all the creator’s previous relevant experience in one culminating item, such as a presentation or research paper.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: A common educational language used by instructors to organize higher-order learning objectives and assess student learning.
Social Constructivism: An idea that students learn better when they develop knowledge together, since learning and knowledge depend on shared understandings.