It's Academic

Strengthening the connection between your library and the writing center

October 5, 2018

tags: collaboration, outreach, writing center

A woman writes in a notebook. Image credit: Jessica Showalter

Libraries and writing centers have a lot in common—both focus on student needs and success, and both deal with the link between research and writing. For librarians seeking to increase collaboration with their colleagues at the writing center, I have compiled a list of ideas.

Some of these ideas come from my experience working as writing tutor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and as a library staff member at Penn State Altoona; others come from two recent articles that serve as essential guides for library/writing center collaboration.

Holly Jackson’s article “Collaborating for student success: An e-mail survey of U.S libraries and writing centers” presents survey results from almost 200 library and writing center staff members about how they collaborate, what works, and what doesn’t.

Elise Ferer’s article “Working together: library and writing center collaboration” also provides many examples of library/writing center collaboration based on a literature review. She advises, “At most institutions it may be easier to start small with projects that will not require a large shift in the status quo. This can help build positive feelings for larger collaborative projects and help each group see where future work is needed” (555).

Keeping Ferer’s advice in mind, here is a list of suggestions ranging from simple and short-term to complex and long-term. Librarians might:

Designate a library contact person for writing center staff.
Meet with the writing center director regularly to stay current.
Refer students to the writing center.
Link to their website on the library’s page.
Cross-publicize events (social media, posters, word-of-mouth).
Attend events held at the writing center.
Create a citation handout or LibGuide tutorial.
Co-present a workshop for students or faculty.
Train library staff about writing center hours, services, resources.
Train writing center staff about library services and information literacy skills.
Serve as an embedded librarian at the writing center.
Invite embedded tutors to host a satellite site in the library.
Co-teach a course.
Share space with a learning commons.
Co-write scholarly articles with writing center staff.
Co-present at conferences.
Collaborate on gathering data and assessment.

Have you tried any of these approaches at your library? Do you have suggestions that aren’t listed? Please share in the comments.

Ferer, E. (2012). Working together: library and writing center collaboration. Reference Services Review, 40(4), 543-557. doi: 10.1108/00907321211277350

Jackson, H. A. (2017). Collaborating for student success: An e-mail survey of U.S. libraries and writing centers. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(4), 281-296. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2017.04.005

Jessica Showalter is an Information Resources and Services Support Specialist at Penn State Altoona’s Eiche Library. Say hello on Twitter @libraryjms

CRD Conference Corner Volume 3

October 2, 2018

by Matthew McNelis

pala 2018 With less than two weeks away until the annual PaLA Conference we here at It’s Academic are continuing our preview of CRD-sponsored sessions available at the conference. This week we are taking a look at a topic familiar to many of us, as well as a topic that is breaking new ground for academic libraries.

Title: There’s Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself…and Negative Faculty Feedback: Building Relationships with Faculty through Weeding.

Presenters: Ronalee Ciocco, Director of Library Services, U. Grant Miller Library/Washington & Jefferson College
Samantha Martin, Research & Collections Librarian, U. Grant Miller Library/Washington & Jefferson College
Beth Miller, Copyright & Subscription Services Librarian, U. Grant Miller Library/Washington & Jefferson College
Jacqueline Laick, Systems Librarian, U. Grant Miller Library/ Washington & Jefferson College

Abstract: To prepare for a library renovation we were tasked with reducing our library’s collection by 30%. In order to complete this project we knew that we would need to collaborate closely with our faculty to obtain their support. With more than 20 years since a significant weed had occurred, and none of the faculty or staff having participated in a weeding project of this scale, this was a new undertaking for all! Join us for this discussion-based session as we share what worked for us and what we wish we had done differently. While our session will be focused on our experience in an academic library, the importance of relationship building and clear communication when it comes to major projects will be applicable to all types of libraries.

Time: Monday, October 15th 2:00pm-3:15pm

Title: Game On! Building Successful Tabletop Game Collections in Academic Libraries

Presenter: Emily Hardesty, Instructional Services Librarian, Lycoming College

Abstract: Progressively more academic libraries are building their own tabletop game collections to cater to a booming trend amongst their patrons. Board, card, and dice games also appeal to faculty because certain games can stimulate critical thinking and promote teamwork. This session will explore how Snowden Library at Lycoming College started a tabletop game collection. Learn about how our small academic library promotes and assesses our collection, and we’ll share our plans for supporting our institution’s curriculum with games, as other libraries have already done. You’ll be able to walk away with ideas for starting a game collection at your own library.

Time: Monday, October 15th 10:30am-11:45am

Banned Books Week

September 28, 2018

tags: BannedBooksWeek

by smartin592

I look forward to Banned Books Week each year but this year it came and went without notice at our library. On Monday we FINALLY re-opened our renovated library space. Unfortunately, with all of the moving and adjusting and last-minute tweaks we didn’t have enough bandwidth to add in a Banned Books Week celebration this year. This is an event we’ve had pretty good student participation in so it is disappointing that we aren’t doing it this year. I thought I’d share what we’ve done in the past in case anyone is looking for ways to jazz up their celebration next year.

Our college does something called Feel Good Friday, where each department on campus takes turns manning a booth outside of the cafeteria on Friday during lunch hours. Since we do this event outside of the library, near food services, this is a chance for us to reach students who don’t come in to the library regularly. During the Fall Semester we have been using Feel Good Friday to get student participation for our Banned Books Week activities.

Three years ago, we created a mugshot background on one of our whiteboards and had students pose in front of it with their favorite banned books or a quote from a banned book. We took their photos using our iPad and had each student sign a photo release. Then throughout Banned Books Week we posted the photos on our social media channels. We actually had students wait in line to have their photo taken – which never happens with students on our campus, unless they’re waiting for their deli combos at the snack bar.

The following year we had faculty, staff, and administrators read passages from their favorite Banned Books which we posted to YouTube as part of ALA’s Virtual Read-Out. For our Feel Good Friday booth, we used a felt board to have students match covers of banned books with the reasons they had been banned. This activity was not quite as popular as the photo booth but the students that stopped engaged with us much more by discussing and debating reasons why some of their favorite books had been banned or challenged.

Last year, we went back to our photo booth idea but instead of mug shots, we used a poster printer to print large covers of banned or challenged books and mounted them on dowel rods. The students got really creative with how they posted and who they posed with. We even had faculty stop and pose for photos. One of our staff members had the good idea of asking the students to provide their social media handles when they signed the release form so we could tag them as we posted the photos to our social media sites throughout the week. Students were very happy to do this and those posts were some of our most interacted with posts from last year.

After three good years of programming, it’s a bummer that we dropped the ball this year. We did hand out bookmarks and stickers at the circulation desk but it just wasn’t the same. I’d love to hear what other schools do to celebrate because I need to start planning our comeback for next year!

CRD Conference Corner Volume 2

September 21, 2018

by Matthew McNelis

pala 2018

Our look at PaLA Annual Conference sessions sponsored by CRD continues with a look at two sessions focused on information literacy. The first session listed focuses on introducing audio books to students (especially those who don’t enjoy reading), while the second session dives into the idea of focusing information literacy sessions across multiple disciplines on consistent outcomes instead of specific assignments.

Title: Are You Hearing This? Introducing College Age Reluctant Readers to the Joy of Audio Books

Presenter: Annie Jansen, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Penn State Brandywine

Abstract: This session will relate the findings of a pre- and post- cohort survey of students in an entry level composition class for students with low SAT scores. The survey asked about levels of engagement with “leisure” reading texts before and after the semester, which included two book club lunches and small group discussions of a book of their choosing. The book was available on a Kindle Fire, which allowed for reading text, listening to audio, or simultaneous text and audio. Research shows that literacy skills are built using audio just as much as with visual reading. Audio is used to improve fluency, expand vocabulary, and increase motivation to interact with books. Students are able to listen to the text and follow along, but most importantly, are able to jump the hurdles that may have impeded them from reading.

Time: Sunday, October 14th 4:00pm-5:15pm

Title: Seamless Library Instruction: Scaffolding Lessons across the Curriculum

Presenters: Jill Carew, Librarian, HACC-York
Kathleen Heidecker, Librarian, HACC-Gettysburg
Andrea Metz, Librarian, HACC-Gettysburg
Allyson Valentine, Librarian, HACC-York

Abstract: Librarians strive to design unique lessons to support specific assignments and work diligently with classroom instructors to address information literacy. Yet, there are concerns that library instruction is repetitive and generic. Often classroom faculty request the same type of lesson across multiple disciplines and course levels. HACC has eight full-time and 16 adjunct librarians who provide instruction across five campuses and virtually. In 2017, librarians taught 958 faceto-face classes and were embedded in 143 virtual classes. The challenge is teaching consistently in courses across campuses and meeting the needs of a diverse student population. We addressed this challenge by building a scaffolded instruction program that connects course learning outcomes with the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) framework. After listing course learning outcomes, we identified library activities corresponding with those specific outcomes. We then connected specific ACRL frameworks to our scaffolded lessons. This allowed us to look at student learning as a whole, moving instruction from assignment specific to outcome specific. It offered an opportunity for campuses to share and organize lessons and opened conversation between librarians and classroom faculty about scaffolded library instruction. Join us for this session to discuss how you can implement a similar structure at your institution.

Time: Monday, October 15th 9:00am-10:15am

CRD Conference Corner

September 13, 2018

by Matthew McNelis

pala 2018 With PaLA’s annual conference rapidly approaching we here at It’s Academic! want to shed some light on the upcoming conference sessions that CRD is sponsoring. We will be devoting some space to each program over the next five weeks, and if you read something you like make sure to check out the session at the annual conference! We will lead off this series with a session focusing on collaboration across colleges and the support of at-risk first-year students.

Title: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Inter-College Collaboration Using IL Instruction to Support At-Risk First-Year Students

Presenters: Christine Iannicelli, Instructional Technology Librarian, Ursinus College
Diane Skorina, Director of Research, Teaching & Learning Services, Ursinus College
Ronalee Ciocco, Director of Library Services, Washington and Jefferson College Samantha Martin, Research & Collections Librarian, Washington and Jefferson College

Abstract: Librarians from five colleges, funded by an Institute for Museum and Library Services Sparks! Ignition grant, collaborated to develop an information literacy instruction program based on the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. The project was designed to investigate the impact of information literacy instruction on the success and persistence of at-risk first year students. Representatives from the institutions will report on how they collaborated with experts and each other to develop the instructional activities and assessments and build partnerships with faculty. They will also present the research findings and their goals going forward. Presenters will then facilitate discussion around potential collaborative efforts inspired by the Framework.

Sunday, October 14th 2:30pm-3:45pm