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Environmental Scan - OWLS: Support

Introduction

Engagement: Serve as primary liaison to OWLS faculty and users; take initiative to identify, meet, and facilitate ongoing communication about their resource needs and service expectations.

Through my work with collection development, teaching, and research assistance I am able to provide faculty and students the support they need and use what I learn about their departments and research needs to develop and continue improving my work and the library collection.

Best Practices

Engagement: Serve as primary liaison to subject area(s) faculty and users; take initiative to identify, meet, and facilitate ongoing communication about their resource needs and service expectations.

  • Actively engage with faculty students and staff in assigned departments or institutes in order to develop strong working relationships. 
  • Promote library services and collections. 
  • Speak knowledgeably about issues such as scholarly communication, open access, institutional repositories, digital collections, and information literacy. 
  • Assess user needs, design and implement user studies, share information about users with library staff and with departments or institutes. 
  • Analyze trends in assigned discipline or area’s research and teaching; be aware of department or institute’s current and future programs; use information to respond to user needs.
  • Seek opportunities for collaboration with departments or institutes in the areas of collections (e.g. creating digital collections; contributing to institutional repository), teaching, and research.

Teaching & Learning: Design and implement strategic and pedagogically appropriate instruction for library users through a variety of methods.

  • Engage faculty and other teaching staff to integrate information literacy concepts and skills into the curriculum. 
  • Develop plan to deliver strategic and effective instruction. 
  • Develop instructional programs and learning materials in a variety of formats, using instructional design principles. 
  • Deliver effective instructional sessions; and/or provide alternate learning opportunities such as LibGuides, train-the-trainer sessions, or research consultations. 
  • Assess student learning in library instruction sessions; use results to improve instruction. 
  • Engage in reflective teaching through use of instructional improvement tools such as peer evaluation or teaching portfolios.

Research Services: Provide in-depth, specialized research consultation and reference for Alkek Library users.

  • Provide assistance and instruction in finding and evaluating information.
  • Provide assistance in accessing library resources and services.
  • Answer questions in person and through e-mail, phone, and instant messaging.
  • Provide consultations for subject or other specialized areas of expertise (e.g. data services, open access, citation management).
  • Extend services through office hours, embedded librarianship and support of graduate researchers.
  • Document and analyze data on research transactions.
  • Participate in the promotion of library services and materials.

Collection Development: Develop and manage collections to support research and instruction in subject area(s) by formulating policies and selecting materials in relevant formats and languages.

  • Select material in relevant formats and languages to serve the research, teaching and learning needs of the Texas State University academic community.
  • Manage collection funds effectively and in a timely manner.
  • Analyze collection characteristics and collection usage data to better serve regional, national and international users.

Digital Tools: Promote use of subject-specific information resources and services to meet user needs and expectations, utilizing current technologies and information tools.

  • Identify areas where new online learning and digital tools can place the library into the flow of teaching, learning, and research. 
  • Participate in the coordination and integration of online tools in support of teaching, learning, and research.

Scholarly Communication: Educate and inform faculty, graduate students and campus administrators on issues of scholarly communication.

  • Monitor patterns of research and emerging issues in scholarly communication.
  • Demonstrate competency on broad issues of copyright and how to responsibly use resources in an academic setting.
  • Explain open access policies and promote use of Digital Collections.

Technical Services: Work with staff in library Technical Services departments to ensure accurate and easy access to scholarly resources.

  • Work with technical services to improve discovery tools and interfaces. 
  • Work with Acquisition specialists on managing funds. 
  • Support the creation of digital collections by selecting materials and contributing specialized expertise to their processing. 
  • Perform copy-cataloging and assist with original cataloging of materials in specified language(s).

Source

Librarian Activity

  • Summer-Fall 2015: I met with OWLS faculty in the Spring 2014 to discuss Library news, resources, and services. I brought up some ongoing issues with OWLS students needing lots of extra research help. This started a conversation that has continued via email with several OWLS faculty members and finally I emailed the Chair in July asking to be added to the department's TRACS site for students as a first step. I received a packet from the department outlining their plans on updating their program. I saw many opportunities for me to work with them as they do this, so I set up a meeting with Barbara Wilson for August 5th to discuss some things that I feel need to be addressed: their link in the learning module to an old Scholarly Resources library handout is an easy fix I can do; the tutorial they asked me to do 2 years ago and that all Practicum students must listen to needs updating and I will be working on that as well.
  • Spring 2015: Librarians began sending out a Research Consultation survey to students who scheduled a session with a librarian. Results are presented on environmental scan's Students tab. One suggestion submitted to Lisa Ancelet is that the form asks students to provide their department; I received several surveys back but did not know what department they were coming from; this information may be added to the form for Fall 2015.
  • Ongoing: Email new faculty introducing myself as their department's subject librarian and offering to meet with them to discuss their personal research needs related to library resources and services as well as offering to provide a course guide and library instruction.
  • Ongoing: Promote GRADS and FADS services in sessions and via email to faculty and TRACS students.
  • Spring 2015: Surveyed OWLS faculty for their research interests for environmental scans
  • Ongoing: Work closely with faculty concerning their funds on a monthly basis by way of the OWLS Collection Development guide and emails asking if they need anything ordered. OWLS faculty always send me requests for specific titles by email and I do all their ordering.
    • Summer 2015: At the close of FY2015, I sent all my departments an email with a link to all material ordered by all funds. There is so much overlap among them that I felt it best that they be able to see what titles were ordered by other departments: FY2015 Material Ordered

 

  • Fall 2014-Ongoing: Showed students and faculty Browzine
  • Fall 2015: Curriculum Builder workshops are being planned; I will be involved in preparing the workshop as well as presenting to faculty.
  • Fall 2014-Present: Worked on department's Environmental Scan: http://guides.library.txstate.edu/ES-OWLS
  • Spring 2015: Attended the Wine & Cheese event for Graduate Student Appreciation Week; no OWLS students were in attendance.
  • Spring 2015: Attended the Finding Images workshop presented by Tara Smith. This provided basic information all librarians should know about when it comes to fair use and images.
    • Fall 2015: Future workshops are planned; I will send information out to all my faculty along with a link to the workshop guide.
  • Spring 2015: Attended the Author's Rights & Publishing Agreements workshop by Margaret Vaverek and Selene Hinojosa. This provided basic information all librarians should be familiar with in order to better serve their faculty.
    • Fall 2015: Future workshops are planned for September and October; I will send information out to all my faculty along with a link to the workshop guide.
  • Fall 2015: Promote new Graduate Commons in class discussions and course guides.