Jenny asks:
Our library has an opportunity to participate in a new faculty orientation next month. We will share a day (10 a.m.-3 p.m. including lunch) with the writing center and academic technology (also housed in the library). Our Director of Academic Technology recently attended a conference where integrated technology, library, teaching and learning centers were the norm (here is a related article if you are interested). We would like to collaborate more with the academic support services housed in the library to come across as a unified whole to support teaching and learning.
In what creative ways has your library collaborated with instructional technology, the writing center, and other academic support services? How have you conducted new faculty orientation to the library, and what worked/didn't work? Thanks so much for your input!
What a fantastic opportunity, Jenny!
ReplyDeleteWhere I work we have a great relationship with our instructional technology specialist (she coordinates everything with the CMS) and our IT department in general. We also have the Writing Center, and the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) which supports faculty scholarship and pedagogical development, thought everything isn’t unified or centralized within the library.
As Faculty Development and Instruction Librarian, I work closely together with the CETL to provide programs and materials for faculty (which has helped build relationships and get more IL instruction into classes). This relationship has not only helped with increasing faculty attendance, but has also helped give me more perspective as to what faculty expect of the library, expect of their students, and what we can do to better meet those needs/expectations.
We also have tutoring tables within the library that are staffed by student tutors, though the Academic Success center is located in the Student Center. The library isn’t directly involved with the tutoring center (staffing, hours, etc.), but having this relationship and shared space helps students see the library as a greater resource than just a place for books.
The writing center is housed in a different building and is not associated with the library, though we do have a good relationship with the faculty member who runs the writing center, and the writing center workers, as we tend to refer students back and forth (to them if a student needs a paper proofread, to us if that student is working to wrap their mind around the research process).
There has been a lot of talk about increasing the services offered within the library to form an information-commons-type setting where students can come for a one-stop shop for tutoring, research and resources, Writing Center, and disability services & assistance. It will be interesting to see what develops from this discussion and how our space could be adapted to meet the needs of even more different stakeholders. Right now each of these services are their own entity and are supervised through different areas on campus. Having a shared understanding of the space, responsibilities, etc., would be important so that students know where to go for which services.