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By Jean Cleveland
jcleveland@uga.edu
 Libraries have always had teaching roles in the academic environment, but university libraries increasingly need to become teaching libraries, says Susan Curtis, head of the reference department for the UGA Libraries.
“Some students don’t question information resources. We see students taking their notes for papers from personal Web sites and from organizations which have specific agendas,” she says. “While some students know to weigh authorship, currency, bias and other factors, others feel that the fact that the information comes from a computer makes it OK. ”
Librarians have found a variety of ways to partner with faculty in designing classes aimed at producing more information-literate graduates. “Constructing tight search strategies is a skill our staff spends a lot of time honing, and we are anxious to share that expertise with students,” Curtis says. “One of the ways we do that most effectively is when we work with faculty developing assignments across their curriculum.”
For a course on violence against women, for example, reference librarians created a database both for crime statistics and for social and economic factors that make women vulnerable. Students will be able to analyze the resources and make judgments in a specific context.
“We can help researchers identify resources, set up databases to index tools in ways that are meaningful for instructors and, of course, help students use these resources,” Curtis says. “We are part of both the research and teaching arms of the university.”
One librarian team-taught a freshman seminar on information literacy with University Computing and Networking Services and the Office of Instructional Support and Development. “The idea was to pull together their expertise in technology with ours,” Curtis explains. “Students learned about the proprietary software in common use at UGA and had assignments in electronic and print resources. They mounted the results of their projects on their own Web page.”
Additional opportunities for faculty collaboration will be found when the Student Learning Center opens in 2003.
“I see the Student Learning Center changing not just where classes are taught but also the student culture,” Curtis says. “It’s going to be absolutely central in the lives of students on this campus.”
Curtis talks excitedly about the resources planned for the building, including the expectation that some multi-media projects will be produced here. “We anticipate that students will be able to include audio and/or video clips in assignments,” Curtis says. “This is going to require a close partnership with faculty. This is a chance to educate faculty about the resources in our media collection and our other special collections.”
She also is pleased that the new building will include 95 group-study rooms.
Curtis is particularly pleased that the new building will include 95 group-study rooms. “Faculty assign group projects to help students learn to manage projects the way they will need to in business, but at this point the libraries are woefully inadequate for group study,” she says. “The students feel compelled to go off campus to do this. We want to provide them with the environment and the resources all in one place.”
Curtis could not have envisioned her current job when, as a high school student in California, she decided to become a librarian.
“Because this was before we had personal computers, I had a very simplistic view of what a librarian would do,” Curtis says. “Librarians are trained to see the whole information universe, and they delight in teasing information out in ways that are useful to the people they work with. When we see what thoughtful use of information technology can do, it’s very exciting.” |
