In our first lecture we discussed the growing importance of instruction in the field of librarianship. As ready reference questions become less frequent in the age of Google, and research becomes more i dependent, it is ever more important that patrons learn how to find and evaluate sources for their information needs.
This discussion made me think of the instruction provided to me during my undergraduate and graduate studies. Though I completed an independent honors thesis in history, I never consulted a librarian at my undergraduate institution. Why? Looking back I know I only brushed the surface of true, authentic research. I clearly respect librarians, as I am following their path in my own professional choices. I knew where librarians were posted in all of the libraries I worked in. And still, I had little interaction with them.
I see this as a great disappointment. Several of my research classes had information sessions with librarians, but they were repetitive, and only barely brushed the surface of materials. I can't remember anything remarkable that I learned beyond how to put an asterisk after a search term to broaden it. I worked only with general librarians, none that specialized in history. They only showed me collections Berkeley had; they didn't show me how to access the world of libraries they were connected with.
I feel really fortunate that I have a background in education and so can work to improve the field of librarian instruction. I am eager to see more effective practices that librarians put in place this semester.
This discussion made me think of the instruction provided to me during my undergraduate and graduate studies. Though I completed an independent honors thesis in history, I never consulted a librarian at my undergraduate institution. Why? Looking back I know I only brushed the surface of true, authentic research. I clearly respect librarians, as I am following their path in my own professional choices. I knew where librarians were posted in all of the libraries I worked in. And still, I had little interaction with them.
I see this as a great disappointment. Several of my research classes had information sessions with librarians, but they were repetitive, and only barely brushed the surface of materials. I can't remember anything remarkable that I learned beyond how to put an asterisk after a search term to broaden it. I worked only with general librarians, none that specialized in history. They only showed me collections Berkeley had; they didn't show me how to access the world of libraries they were connected with.
I feel really fortunate that I have a background in education and so can work to improve the field of librarian instruction. I am eager to see more effective practices that librarians put in place this semester.
I completely agree with this. As an English major, most of my essays focused on primary sources (the text itself), but I did occasionally bring in criticism or do research, and I had almost nothing to do with the school librarians. I don't even think I knew what a subject specialist was, let alone if we had one. Librarians and professors need to interact more!
ReplyDeleteI think the key is figuring out where librarians still need to be interacting with patrons (students, the public, whatever) in person, and zero in on doing that really well. I never consulted one-on-one with a librarian as an undergrad either, but I did learn some things in library workshops I went to for class on how to do research, and in general I had a good experience using the my university library's online resources because the library had put things together so well. It used to be that you needed to actually interface with a librarian to accomplish almost anything. Now you don't, and that's okay. But there are definitely still times when that actual human contact will be helpful, and our goal is to gauge that and figure out 1) when that's the case, and 2) how to interfere.
ReplyDelete