Preparing a website for this course that described where I lived for a general audience was a relatively simple task as it only required that I present information clearly and concisely, and organize it in a way that was easy to navigate and understand. The second and third course activities, however, moved away from everyday information transfer to focus on faculty course preparation and instruction in two different academic disciplines. This required that I pay close attention to individuals’ learning and teaching styles as well as their experience with technology and how they constructed learning. In reflecting and summarizing research findings in this final activity, I became aware of another factor –one’s comfort level with collaboration. While the methods used in course activities provided a useful model, comfort level with collaboration may be key to success of library liaison services.
Two recent books I read focused specifically on the subject of forging collaborative partnerships. Raspa and Ward (2006) provide a series of essays describing options and ideas for teaching faculty and librarians in their book, The Collaborative Imperative: Librarians and Faculty Working Together in the Information Universe, advising the use of networking, coordination, and especially, collaboration. Kratt’s (2005) book, Relationships Between Teaching Faculty And Teaching Librarians, delves into the attitudes of both faculty and librarians as they form relationships essential to ensure students’ success. Two critical aspects the authors mention are creative curriculum planning and flexibility, but what is most important is a fostering of active and equal interaction among teaching faculty and librarians.
Remembering the adage that “education is what remains after the facts are forgotten” (Breivik, 1998, p. 24), it is important to focus on higher level thinking skills. Working as partners, librarians can provide professional knowledge about strategies and resources necessary to access information and academic faculty contribute their in-depth knowledge of their content areas. Together they help students evaluate and apply information, fulfilling an important step to make certain that students gain the skills they need to succeed.
As an example, a pathfinder has been prepared for students taking a university level class in Native American art. It can be found at nativeamericanartresources.blogspot.com. The book used to help prepare this website was Research within the Disciplines: Foundations for Reference and Library Instruction (2007). Although there was much information in the book that was helpful, the most useful chapter for this project was Research in the Humanities, by Peggy Keeran; this chapter provided information on historical research and government documents. The resulting webpage pathfinder serves as an illustration and if prepared for a specific university, call numbers or contact information would be provided.
Another excellent resource for a class in Native American art would be archives and special collections. I would examine the finding aids and consult with the archivist and/or special collections librarian to determine if there were any primary source materials which could be helpful in conducting research in the specific topics the students were studying. These resources would not only help students, they could aid the instructor in preparing for class.
Because a class in art depends upon examining visual information, I searched for visual aids for the instructor to use in course preparation and instruction. I found several videos and DVDs which could be shown in whole or in part. Two which seemed especially good were: Beyond Tradition: Contemporary Indian Art and Its Evolution, which is a 45 minute long, Emmy Award winning video. This medium provides over three hundred examples of prehistoric, historic, and contemporary American Indian art including carvings, paintings, baskets, rugs, and pottery. The second video is Native American Art: Art of Three Native Americans, which is 27 minutes long. A third video option worth examining is The American Indian Artists series from PBS, which shows the skills and crafts of several American Indian artists. A list of references used and recommended are shown below, while the pathfinder is detailed at at: nativeamericanartresources.blogspot.com.
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Copyright 2007 Monique Lloyd. Send comments to mlloyd@emporia.edu. All rights reserved. Webpage created: December 4, 2007.
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