LibConnect: Focus of the Month

To get us started, I think we do well with assessment. We have quite a few surveys. Oftentimes, libraries can only assess their outreach in terms of how many people attend their events. It is great to have other data on what students have learned and what they are interested in. We also have extensive tracking for reference services. 

As librarians for an online university and library, we are also adept at using the technologies needed for online research and are familiar with the student user interfaces. We have to be. :)

Personally, I want to invest more into "teaching" as I start providing webinars and research appointments to patrons.  

Hi all, I would like to share this document from ACRL: The Power of Personal Persuasion. It's an older one, from 2006, but I think the discussion on persuasion is still relevant. That starts on page 9. I think it would be useful to review when we are trying to think of ideas of how to make connections with patrons that are maybe more difficult to get a response from. 

I also found this document on marketing and outreach resources by the ACRL Library Marketing and Outreach Interest Group: Marketing for the Beginner. It's from 2017, so some of these resources may no longer be around but I think some of them would be helpful. There are a number of sites here for finding CC licensed or public domain icons and images.

I think we do well with teaching and technology. Our webinar and tutorial content is very good and provides students with a solid starting point for their research. Our boot camp sessions are comprehensive and really get into that higher level research that graduate students need. I really believe this is one area where we excel. 

In my mind, marketing and user engagement go hand in hand. These are areas that can often be problematic for many libraries. Students are always pressed for time and when students are generally adult learners and strictly online, connecting with them becomes even more tricky. I don't have an answer for this, but I guess the key is to just keep trying different methods of trying to make those connections with students. 

Thanks, Sara. I am impressed with how in-depth the boot camp sessions are in instructing students on how to research in the library. 

Of the competencies listed, those that apply most to our role here at CSU include assessment, collaboration, communication, marketing, resource management, service, teaching, technology, and user engagement. I see teaching (library instruction) and service (reference) as our main emphases, with the other competencies complementing those two.

I feel our foremost challenge in outreach is demonstrating our worth as librarians to the faculty. Due to a number of misconceptions about the function of the librarian in academia, faculty are often oblivious to what we can actually offer them in their roles as instructors. To remedy this, I don't believe we should ramp up our efforts with more emails about our services; I think it will take a more strategic approach to building relationships with them--a slow but steady burn, if you will.

In her book Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Information Literacy, Michelle Reale discusses this librarian/faculty conundrum in her chapter, "More Than Just Transactional." She provides thought-provoking points about educating faculty on the true role of the academic librarian.

If we can develop good relationships with faculty, they will be more likely to recommend us, our instruction sessions, and our services to the students, thus maximizing our student outreach efforts as well.

Hi, Laura. These are all good considerations. Thanks for recommending that chapter, I'll have to read it.