At this critical juncture in higher education, our country, and the world, academic librarians have unique expertise to respond to today's information crises. One path forward is empowering instruction librarians to prioritize opportunities that explore the relationship between information, power, and justice. At our institution, this looks like strategically shifting our information literacy program to prioritize credit course teaching. This opportunity provides librarians with the agency to explore the complexity of information systems and realities in their own curriculum and classrooms. This presentation will showcase our general education course, differentiating this approach from the more traditional liaison instruction model.
Health Sciences Librarian, University of Northern Iowa
Angie Cox (she/her) is an Instruction and Liaison Librarian for the health sciences and Associate Professor of Library Services at the University of Northern Iowa. Her primary research interests are information literacy, pedagogy, and sustainable library practices.
Arts and Humanities Librarian, University of Northern Iowa
Amandajean (Aj) Freking Nolte earned a BA in Communication/Theatre Arts Education (2005) and a MA (2007) in Communication Studies from the University of Northern Iowa. After almost ten years as a Communication Studies instructor and a peer theatre troupe director, she juggled work... Read More →
Learn how one institution transformed its archival instruction program through strategic collaboration across three departments. This session explores the development of scalable online learning modules that support primary source literacy while addressing limited staffing challenges. Through developing sustainable instructional resources that bridge special collections with broader information literacy initiatives, participants can learn how to enhance faculty partnerships and increase student engagement with archival materials. Drawing from successful partnerships, participants will be provided structured steps to create their own action plans, analyze current instructional practices using the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy, and transform resource constraints into opportunities for innovation.
This session describes "Citation Month" at NYU Shanghai, a collection of passive and active programming events held in October annually from 2022. Citation month was established with the goal of making citation more approachable for our students, especially those who are new to citation practices. The presentation will outline the different events that have comprised Citation Month over the three years it has run so far, identifying how events have been introduced, adapted, and removed over time, and describe which events have been most and least successful in terms of student engagement. This session may be helpful for others interested in similar programs to support diverse student populations.
This presentation discusses an undergraduate student-led textbook affordability initiative that resulted in a library collaboration that enhanced student engagement, raised awareness of readily available free resources, and facilitated mentorship opportunities in student leadership and grant writing. The partnership has demonstrated the library's impact on student success beyond traditional academic support and resulted in the development of a textbook stipend and the promotion of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Access (OA)adoption.
Beginning spring 2024, librarians in the reference, outreach, and instruction department at University of Massachusetts, Boston worked to substantially increase outreach efforts with the goal of sharing resources, reducing barriers to access, and creating a culture where the library is present, listening, and supporting students. Presenters will share a toolbox containing eight unique outreach events, planning documents showing adaptations made, and more. Join us in discourse of how librarians can initiate and use outreach to support students beyond traditional orientations, instruction, and reference services in a way that is sustainable and considers the needs and identities of our specific communities.
This session explores the Pollak Library's successful implementation of an Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) model for archival and primary source collections, and how this new program, which developed from a collaboration with campus faculty, led to a new approach to library instruction that incorporated trial databases. The involvement of both students and faculty in the trial databases resulted in increased usage and engagement, supporting the selection of perpetual purchases. Attendees will learn strategies for tailoring library instruction and working with faculty to support EBA models and trial databases, and how usage may be impacted by these practices.
Collection Development and Management Librarian, California State University, Fullerton
I am the Collection Development and Management Librarian at Cal State Fullerton, but I began my career in collection development working with academic libraries on behalf of a books vendor. I am passionate about collection development (truly!), enjoy analysis and collaboration, and... Read More →
Academic libraries typically rely on subject instructors to request textbooks and instruction from the library. This presentation showcases a proactive, rather than reactive, model for provisioning textbooks and instruction. Across two terms, librarians analyzed over 300 course syllabi spanning six subject departments. Librarians identified 1) required texts that were purchasable or were already available as unlimited-user ebooks; 2) assignments requiring independent research of students; and 3) policies (or lack thereof) pertaining to generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). On the basis of these analyses, the library provisioned dozens of 'e-textbooks', undertook multiple instructional interventions, and gained a clear picture of faculty approaches to GenAI. This session will present the costs, outcomes, and best practices involved in comprehensively reviewing syllabi as a form of collaboration with subject departments.
For over 20 years, librarians from the Sarah Lawrence College Library and the Yonkers Public Library have worked together to support international baccalaureate (IB) students at Yonkers Middle High School (a grades 6-12 public school in Yonkers, NY) through two day-long research skills sessions each academic year. Across the years, through many staffing changes, and through a pandemic, the initiative continues to develop and grow. This session will provide an overview of the program, share how it has evolved, discuss how the librarians leverage their expertise to support the students, and explore designing and implementing cross-institution partnerships for information literacy.
Rachel Leff is the Head of Research Services at the Sarah Lawrence College Library in Bronxville, NY. She worked in public libraries before moving over to academic libraries, and is a firm believer in academic-public partnerships.
Your Voices was a project that allowed underrepresented students in library and information science and applied data science to share their stories, support each other, and learn how to navigate equity, diversity, and inclusion. The project culminated in a final report and best practices guide highlighting the project's successes for further expansion of student engagement and empowerment in its second iteration, Students: Amplifying Your Voices (SAYV). SAYV focused on community learning spaces, a Discord server, and a podcast series for underrepresented students. This session will detail Your Voices results, highlight the best practices guide for organizations, and share the current progress of SAYV.
Dr. Michele A. L. Villagran is an accomplished educator, innovative speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, cultural intelligence and diversity & inclusion expert with over 24+ years of experience in the public and private sectors. Dr. Villagran’s research focuses on diversity and social... Read More →
This session will explore the critical role of AI literacy within the information literacy landscape and why integrating AI tools into research instruction is essential in our current environment. Participants will examine the differences between research-focused large language models (LLMs), such as Semantic Search, Scholar GPT, Research Rabbit, and Consensus, and general-purpose LLMs, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, CoPilot, and Claude. Additionally, the session will provide an in-depth comparison of popular research LLMs, emphasizing their unique features and applications, equipping attendees with the knowledge to make informed decisions about selecting and utilizing AI tools effectively in academic and research contexts.
The session will discuss a study conducted by a librarian research team at an R1 university that began testing the new Ex Libris Primo AI Research Assistant in 2024. The research team created a framework to assess the quality of results produced by this tool by inputting one year of research assistance queries from undergraduate writing program students and further comparing the output of a basic search to a prompt-engineered approach. Study findings will be presented along with a discussion of how librarians adapted their practice to integrate this AI tool into instruction and consultations.
This session will present an openly licensed curriculum that will help librarians implement a sustained professional development program through the Communities of Practice for the Advancement of Library Instruction (COPALI). COPALI ran from March - November 2023 and had three distinct tracks: Evidence-Based Instruction; OER/Open Pedagogy; and Diverse Voices in Information Literacy. The program had both in-person and asynchronous components and covered five themes over the course of 12 weeks: foundations, frameworks, issues, collaboration, and assessment. Panelists will share their takeaways and advice from planning, executing, and assessing the program.
Logan Rath is an Associate Librarian at The College at Brockport, State University of New York where he focuses on training and supporting Blackboard. Logan has transitioned away from information literacy instruction but uses educational theory to develop effective student training.Logan... Read More →
As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes academia, librarians can play a crucial role in preparing students to navigate this evolving information landscape. This presentation will explore practical strategies for integrating AI literacy into library instruction that align with current trends in librarianship. We'll delve into examples of lessons and activities on essential AI concepts, the variety of AI tools, critical evaluation, and ethical considerations. Join me as I share my journey of developing AI-focused instruction for both credit and course-embedded classes and how it has shaped my role as a campus resource on AI.
Our team developed flipped classroom, asynchronous information literacy tutorials for first-year students at the University of Arkansas to address challenges in delivering personalized instruction to high-enrollment courses. Collaborating with freshman program directors, we created tutorials embedded with assessments, collecting nearly 2,000 student responses. We also surveyed instructors to gauge the tutorials' impact on student learning. Our presentation will cover the entire process, from creation to deployment and evaluation, sharing insights on how assessment shaped the final product and what we learned about effective techniques for gathering feedback to improve future iterations of the tutorials.
Get inspiration and support for crafting and measuring more authentic and successful primary source-based library instruction. Although the Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy presented rough objectives in 2018, more specific, assessable learning outcomes need to be honed at the library session, assignment, or tutorial level. Attendees will leave with a toolbox containing a wide variety of outcome examples, reusable planning blueprints, lightweight assessment methods mapped to observable learning verbs, plans for staff and faculty development, and potential sites for sharing findings widely.
How do students build trust in online information? Through real-time interviews with diverse undergraduates at the University of New Mexico, we explored students' decision-making processes when evaluating websites. Our findings reveal both expected and unexpected patterns: students' reliance on quantitative data, their distinction between trusting versus using sources, and their nuanced engagement with website purpose and features. Join us to compare your evaluation strategies with our study participants through interactive polling and discover insights to improve how we teach source evaluation.
Current changes in higher education demand we think through and shape our teaching craft in more explicit ways. This session will focus on exploring why we teach and how our personal, professional, and instructional identities enrich our teaching practice. A case study of a professional development model grounded in autoethnographic research methods and Situated Expectancy-Value Theory, that is usually associated with understanding student performance and motivation, will be showcased. Participants will then have an opportunity to reflect on their own purpose as well as, the why behind their teaching and identities. To continue reflecting on teaching improvement and pathways for future career development, participants will take away a toolbox of strategies to continue reflecting on teaching improvement and to identify pathways for future career development.
Dr. Donna Harp Ziegenfuss, is a Librarian in the Faculty Services department in the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. She earned an Ed.D. in Academic Leadership/Higher Education and an MS degree in Applied Technology/Instructional Design. Dr. Ziegenfuss has over... Read More →
This session will share the preliminary results of a study on the AI literacy skills of undergraduate students taking STEM courses at a liberal arts university. The study examines the following:
- What genAI tools are STEM students using? - How do they select and evaluate genAI tools? - How do STEM students grapple with ethical issues miring genAI tools?
Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how students in STEM courses are approaching and using genAI, and how we as information professionals can partner with students and faculty to enhance AI literacy skills in the sciences and across disciplines.
How do undergraduate students navigate the complex landscape of social media as an information source, and how can their strategies inform library instruction? This session presents research findings on students' perceptions of social media credibility, trust, and fact-checking habits, highlighting key strategies they use to evaluate content. Attendees will gain insights into common indicators of misinformation, the impact of parasocial relationships on information judgments, and the tools students use to verify claims. Presenters will share practical approaches for integrating these insights into information literacy instruction.
The University of Arizona Libraries' Student Learning and Engagement Department has implemented a two-unit structure that reimagines traditional subject-based library support. One unit lays the foundation by focusing on essential skills for first- and second-year students, while the other weaves in advanced research support for upper-division and graduate students. This innovative framework transcends disciplinary boundaries by aligning services with students' academic development and ensures seamless support throughout their learning journey. In addition, this model fosters communities of practice among librarians, allowing them to develop deep expertise with specific student groups. This presentation provides practical tools and strategies for crafting and implementing similar frameworks.
When the University of Maryland migrated to Primo in summer 2024, Teaching & Learning Services (TLS) saw this as an opportunity to redesign library instruction for ENGL101 students. This resulted in removing database demonstrations from instruction, replaced by a student-led, discussion-based lesson about our discovery system. In this session, we will discuss the process of revamping our library instruction lesson plan to match our new discovery tool's capabilities, examine the conversations we had with stakeholders, introducing the lesson plan to graduate students and faculty librarians, and how we re-evaluated our student engagement methods and our learning outcomes.
Whether you are a current, recovering, or aspiring subject expert, join us for an engaging discussion on liaisonship with three experienced subject librarians. Presenters will share their unique journeys into this dynamic role and discuss how their diverse backgrounds influence their current practices, particularly as peer mentors and instructors. Rather than simply serving as a bridge between academic departments and library services, the presenters will advocate for a more collaborative and dynamic partnership. In this model, librarians step into leadership roles by teaching themselves, mentoring one another, and influencing from within - effectively leading from the center of their organizations.
How can department heads and instruction coordinators successfully lead with care during periods of uncertainty and change? This session explores the realities of managing library instruction and outreach departments in two academic libraries amidst vacancies, interim leadership roles, frozen positions, and budget constraints. Two department heads will share practical strategies and examples for navigating these challenges while fostering wellbeing and building a supportive workplace culture. Grounded in ethics of care, this session offers ideas for setting boundaries, advocating for your team, and managing priorities to prevent burnout. Attendees will leave empowered to lead and/or coordinate with intention and care.
Using commercially available tabletop games to teach information literacy can be a fun and effective tool to help students connect with the material. But what games should you choose? And how? We know that people can learn from games, but how can you know if students are learning anything from a game that is designed to be fun, rather than designed to teach? This session explores early research into identifying specific tabletop game mechanics-the processes that make games work-to aid teaching librarians select games that might have a place in your information literacy classroom.
Becoming an effective instructor as an early-career librarian is both challenging and rewarding, especially without an established instructional community or support system. This presentation shares the experiences of three librarians who began their positions right out of graduate school, where they joined a newly created library cohort focused on supplying them with teaching skills, community building, and collaboration opportunities. Through this program, they learn from one another, share strategies, and develop sustainable practices benefiting the entire library. They will discuss how collaborative models and embedded librarianship has helped them begin creating their own instructional mosaic through peer learning and institutional support.
What does visiting a natural area or historic site have to do with libraries? The interpreters who present programs at these unique places "translate" their resources into engaging experiences that build lasting connections between the site and the visitor. Similarly, the underlying goal of library instruction is to create a supportive bridge connecting the student and their studies, while revealing how information literacy skills are relevant to both their work and personal life. This session examines how one librarian has used her experience leading interpretive programs to make one-shot sessions more memorable, relevant, and engaging for students.
In Spring 2024, the joint University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program welcomed its fourth cohort of entry-level doctoral students to their program. As the OTD professors were looking for ways to strengthen their students' research skills efficiently for retention and evidence-based practice purposes, a collaboration was born. Through careful curriculum planning between librarians from both campuses plus two professors, an embedded librarianship model was implemented to provide tailored and intentional support to the new OTD students.
Meet your "new" pedagogical partner: comics. Comics may appear to be familiar collection items but their multifaceted positions and information-rich compositions present refreshing approaches for coordinating impactful classroom design. Introducing examples from contemporary graphic memoirs, this presentation considers alternative texts and media as accessible invitations for students to take part in personal inquiry and ongoing community conversations. The inclusion of comics and other non-traditional sources in library instruction prompts educators to interrogate illustrations of the research process and to seek closer understandings of learners' affective and cognitive experiences with information.
As an Information Literacy Librarian and a Rhetoric and Composition instructor, I integrated library resources into my courses to enhance students' research skills. This integration includes embedding a research guide into their online classes, incorporating discussion prompts, having students reflect on their research processes, and providing library tutorials. I collected students' writing to use as evidence which revealed that this approach significantly enhances students' research competencies, highlighting the effectiveness of combining traditional instruction with integrated, reflective, scaffolded support for solid information literacy retention. I will share these results and discuss strategies for enhancing library instruction to better meet students' needs.
In this session, participants will explore how cognitive load theory can be effectively applied to one-shot library instruction sessions to enhance student learning. Through a combination of theoretical insights and practical strategies, attendees will learn how to design and deliver instruction that minimizes cognitive overload and maximizes educational impact.
This session will highlight a teaching collaboration between course instructors and an embedded library liaison team within a year-long, interdisciplinary freshman course titled Global Islam, wherein critical information literacy themes were imbued throughout regular, content-based course lectures. By exploring some particular synergies between information literacy concepts and the study of Islam and Muslims, the presenters will consider how discussions of power and information can be scaffolded in interdisciplinary classes through collaborative teaching and curriculum development. Advocating for a more inclusive view of 'expertise', this session will also consider opportunities for expanded participation of library workers in subject-based instruction.
College and university archives are invaluable locations for experiential learning opportunities that can foster a tangible sense of student belonging through hands-on engagement with historical primary sources. This presentation will detail a scalable, place-based primary source research project module that facilitates the development of multiple literacies, critical thinking skills, and a direct connection between students and their institution. The project structure is flexible, employing both physical and digital resources, and therefore can be adapted to highlight notable periods, figures, or events relevant to a broad range of institutions and courses.
Do you conduct library instruction sessions, give presentations, work with a team, lead meetings or serve customers? If yes, then attend this session to learn how improv can help you succeed in those roles. The lessons and techniques of improv can improve communication skills, creativity, and confidence. Learn what improv is, how it applies to librarianship, and play some introductory improv games. See how the "yes, and" philosophy can benefit you.
Discover how "lab-style" techniques can transform research instruction for undergraduates and graduates through the lens of legal research classes. This session explores integrating flipped classrooms with experiential learning, emphasizing hands-on exercises. This approach emphasizes active, practical exercises, encouraging students to experiment and think critically without fear of failure. We'll discuss implementation strategies, highlight key activities, and address challenges like feedback demands, scalability for large classes, and overcoming resistance from students and faculty. Join us to reimagine research instruction as an interactive, impactful experience tailored to diverse academic settings.
This presentation will offer an overview of research on students using social media as information sources followed by a case study of integrating TikTok videos into a one-shot session for an introductory college writing course. In the one-shot we watched videos about the supposed health benefits of "colloidal silver" on TikTok which launched students into an information search, bringing up a variety of sources. Using those sources students determined if consuming tiny particles of silver is a good idea. Integrating TikTok into information searches models using social media for information while instilling a healthy skepticism of information and providing a template for going deeper on a topic, leading students to a fuller understanding of information first encountered on social media.
When the ACRL Framework was introduced it provided a gateway for librarians to create more comprehensive information literacy learning in the academy. But, the framework alone does not provide much guidance in educating on fraught systems of publishing, ignorance of indigenous and Black knowledge, or growing systems of AI that serve to replicate oppressive cultural norms. However, engaging with radical frameworks can be just the element to deepen student understanding. In this session I will share original applications of radical frameworks in one shots and a critical information literacy course used to sharpen student understanding of our information landscape.
Want to keep your instruction relevant for the future by increasing student interest? One way to engage and motivate students is to connect information literacy to their everyday lives. This session features activities that identify and expand upon students' information literacy skills outside of college, including process maps, discussions about experts in their own lives, and real-life research assignments where students write to their legislators, prepare remarks for a school board meeting, create a lesson plan, and much more! Participants will leave with ideas for transforming one of their own lessons to connect it to students' everyday lives.
Teaching and Learning Librarian, University of Northern Colorado
My passion is working with underrepresented and underserved students, particularly first-generation students, to build on their strengths, navigate their college experience, and use information thoughtfully. In my work as an Information Literacy Librarian at the University of Northern... Read More →
How can librarians strategically support asynchronous students with resources that are accessible, engaging, and personalized? At Nevada State University, we addressed this challenge by piloting a new approach: creating brief, course-specific video tutorials with reusable components. Recognizing that long videos are burdensome to create and often fail to engage students, we developed concise content focused on helping students access library resources in the LMS to get started with their research. We will share how we developed a streamlined workflow for video creation and strategies for working with instructors to embed the videos in their courses.
Outreach & Engagement Librarian, Nevada State University
As the Outreach & Engagement Librarian, Alena is responsible for leading the Nevada State University Library’s marketing and outreach efforts. Alena holds a BA in English and Art from Lafayette College and an MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a recipient... Read More →
In the battle between the traditional lecture and the modern active learning classroom, we choose neither. We prefer a gentle form of class engagement that allows students to engage in ways that are accessible, comfortable, and productive for them. In doing this, we seek to respect the time, needs, and preferences of learners and ourselves. Join us as we discuss principles of effective gentle class engagement and strategies for taking a gentler approach to engaging students in the classroom, informed by principles of accessibility, sustainability, student agency, and care.
