Title: Embedding Scholarly Communication in Your Instruction Practice: A Coordinated Approach
Discussion Conveners:
- Rebecca Lloyd, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Temple University
- Kristina De Voe, English & Communication Librarian, Temple University
- Annie Johnson, Library Publishing and Scholarly Communications Specialist, Temple University
January 24, 2018 | 1:00pm Central Time
Recording: http://ala.adobeconnect.com/p67gc2v8k4eo/
Chat Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yB93qJlynvGa50pOU2BT6_c4-coIrz0TzbIYsSX8LBU/edit?usp=sharing
In 2013, the release of ACRL’s white paper, Intersections of Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy and Jaguszewski and Williams’s ARL report on changing liaison roles advocated the need for greater collaboration and organizational flexibility amidst a changing scholarly publishing landscape. Both publications — and even the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, adopted shortly thereafter — emphasized the emerging role of undergraduate students as content creators in addition to librarians’ increasing involvement with creative approaches to teaching.
From research universities to liberal arts colleges to community colleges, academic libraries of all sizes have been developing scholarly communication outreach efforts over the past few years. Some have hired specialized, functional staff while others have assigned scholarly communication responsibilities to liaison librarians’ existing roles. Many libraries have scheduled events, implemented programs, and structured activities in order to build awareness of issues like open access, predatory publishing, and authors’ rights across campus.
Yet, while these quasi-programmatic efforts have primarily targeted faculty and graduate students, they have not necessarily reached undergraduate students, who are now content creators as much as they are consumers. Some libraries have found ways to reach undergraduate students by trying to integrate open educational resources into curriculum practices. Other libraries have worked collaboratively with faculty to design assignments that deal with real-world issues related to the research lifecycle, the norms of varying publishing cultures, and intellectual property rights. In both cases, these are often ad hoc efforts, reaching only a small fraction of students.
There has been little systematic integration of scholarly communication topics into information literacy at the one-shot instruction level or, more importantly, the larger programmatic level. Efforts need to be made to move from disparate to efficiently coordinated, integrated practices throughout the library.
This discussion will provide ideas and strategies for libraries of all sizes to take a more holistic view of their own scholarly communication practices. We will share concrete examples of scholarly communication activities and event programming that can be implemented at any library, regardless of size or budget. Attendees will engage with one another about planning, coordination, and outreach efforts related to systematically embedding scholarly communication within instruction practices.
Discussion Questions
- How have you incorporated topics related to scholarly communication into your instruction?
- What are some of your challenges and successes with incorporating scholarly communication into your instruction?
- What role do liaison librarians play when it comes to educating faculty and students about scholarly communication topics in your library? Are these efforts coordinated in any way or is it more ad hoc?
- How do you market your scholarly communication expertise, both as an individual liaison and as a library, to your campus community?
- How are you collaborating with others on campus to get the word out about these initiatives?
Recommended Reading
Davis-Kahl, Stephanie, Teresa A. Fishel, and Merinda K. Hensley. 2014. “Weaving the Threads: Scholarly Communication and Information Literacy.” College & Research Libraries News 75 (8): 441-444. http://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/9179/10146.
Keener, Molly. 2015. “Contextualizing Copyright: Fostering Students’ Understanding of Their Rights and Responsibilities as Content Creators.” Virginia Libraries 61 (1): 37-42. https://ejournals.lib.vt.edu/valib/article/view/1328/1801.
Davis-Kahl, Stephanie, and Merinda K. Hensley. 2013. Common Ground at the Nexus of Information Literacy and Scholarly Communication. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/booksanddigitalresources/digital/commonground_oa.pdf. (open access PDF, lacks chapter 2 of the print/ebook version).
Shea, Ashley, Gail Steinhart, and Jim DelRosso. 2017. “A Team- and Project-Based Approach to Advancing Scholarly Communication Initiatives Across the Library.” Research Library Issues, no. 291, 6-18. http://publications.arl.org/rli291/6.
