The Many Faces of Embedded Librarianship: Interpretations of How We Integrate Ourselves into College
Courses and Departments
Mark Aaron Polger | First Year Experience Librarian | College of Staten Island, CUNY | [email protected]
Being “embedded” might mean
InvolvedIntegratedConnectedPartneredImmersed
• Participate in teaching students overan entire semester
• Co-teach and/or assist on Blackboardor any learning management system
• Collaborate with a specific academic department over an extended period of time
Embedded librarians may….
My Inspiration ….Health libraries
• Some Clinical Medical Librarians (CMLs) and Informationists are completely “embedded”
• Many work outside the library
• Part of a clinical team of health care professionals
• Not “guests”, but permanent team members
There is no “one way” to be embedded
• In person• Online• Online & synchronous• Online & asynchronous• Hybrid• Outside the library• In academic department
Embedded Within a Department• Provided weekly office hours in academic
department• Was given office, telephone, laptop• Became more deeply involved with nearby
classroom faculty and graduate students.• Felt like a member of the academic department• My contact information was listed on academic
department web page• Participated in monthly department meetings
Multiple Library Instruction Visits (in-person)
• Through multiple meetings, the librarian is perceived as more than a “guest”
• They become part of the course and more involved student learning
• Contact information is listed on syllabus
Co-teaching on Blackboard (or any LMS)(synchronous or asynchronous)
• Librarian develops instructional content on Blackboard for students, to supplement course content
• Librarian may not be present in-class but has an important teaching role on Blackboard
• May grade quizzes and respond to discussion posts
• Partnered with academic department when piloting a curriculum change
• Discussed new opportunities for library instruction
• Piloted a revised lesson plan for a new library workshop
• Attended department meetings to communicate the new lesson plan
• Gathered assessment data from theclass
Collaboration with Academic Department
Outreach
Teaching
Collaboration
Time
Long term impact
Pros vs. Cons
Conclusion
• Embedded Librarianship is more effective than one-shot classes
• Requires buy-in from faculty and department
• Some might feel territorial about *sharing* class time and the way others teach
• Some collaborations take years to develop and mature
