From Service Role to Partnership: Faculty Voices on Collaboration with Librarians
Abstract
Librarians at two research universities surveyed faculty practices and views about collaboration with librarians to gain insight into likely partners and strategies for information literacy (IL) instruction. Quantitative data on methods of collaboration revealed that the most often-practiced method of working together was having a librarian deliver an instruction session, followed by jointly developing an online course guide. Statistical differences by disciplinary area and years teaching were examined; experienced faculty reported a greater range of collaboration methods. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses on motives for collaboration, a factor less frequently studied, found that the top reason was to improve student IL skills, followed by to benefit from librarian expertise.