For-Credit Library Instruction: Exploring the Experiences of Academic Librarians Serving as Instructors of Record
Abstract
After an internal survey of librarians teaching for-credit instruction at Penn State University, the authors were motivated to understand the perspectives and experiences of colleagues more broadly. This article shares their project to survey and speak to librarians who serve as instructors of record at a variety of North American institutions. Particular attention was given to how well librarians feel they are supported as for-credit instructors of record; what kind of freedom or control they have over their courses; and if they find for-credit instruction to be of value for themselves, their library, their students, and their institution.
Keywords
References
Auer, N. J., & Krupar, E. M. (2005). Librarians grading: Giving A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s. The Reference Librarian, 43(89–90), 39–61. https://doi.org/10.1300/J120v43n89_04
Burke, M. G. (2012). Academic libraries and the credit-bearing class: A practical approach. Communications in Information Literacy, 5(2), 156–173. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2012.5.2.110
Cohen, N., Holdsworth, L., Prechtel, J. M., Newby, J., Mery, Y., Pfander, J., & Eagleson, L. (2016). A survey of information literacy credit courses in US academic libraries: Prevalence and characteristics. Reference Services Review, 44(4), 564–582. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-03-2016-0021
Cunningham, A., & Donovan, A. (2012). Settling uncharted territory: Documenting & rewarding librarians’ teaching role in the academy. In C. W. Wilkinson & C. Bruch (Eds.), Transforming information literacy programs: Intersecting frontiers of self, library, culture, and campus community (Vol. 64, pp. 181–220). Association of College and Research Libraries.
Davidson, J. R. (2001). Faculty and student attitudes toward credit courses for library skills. College & Research Libraries, 62(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.62.2.155
Davis, E. L., Lundstrom, K., & Martin, P. N. (2011). Librarian perceptions and information literacy instruction models. Reference Services Review, 39(4), 686–702. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907321111186695
Donnelly, K. (2000). Reflections on what happens when librarians become teachers. Computers in Libraries, 20(3), 46–49.
Egan, S. E., Witt, A. N., & Chartier, S. M. (2017). Going beyond the one-shot: Spiraling information literacy across four years. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 22(1), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2017.1290003
Grafstein, A. (2002). A discipline-based approach to information literacy. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 28(4), 197–204
Granruth, L. B., & Pashkova-Balkenhol, T. (2018). The benefits of improved information literacy skills on student writing skills: Developing a collaborative teaching model with research librarians in undergraduate social work education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 38(5), 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2018.1527427
Kemp, J. (2006). Isn’t being a librarian enough? Librarians as classroom teachers. In College & Undergraduate Libraries (Vol. 13, Issue 3, pp. 3–23). https://doi.org/10.1300/J106v13n03_02
Librarians. (n.d.). Data USA. https://datausa.io/profile/soc/librarians
Mery, Y., Newby, J., & Peng, K. (2012). Why one-shot information literacy sessions are not the future of instruction: A case for online credit courses. College & Research Libraries, 73(4), 366–377. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl-271
Perret, R. (2018). Librarian attitudes toward librarians teaching nonlibrary subjects. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 18(2), 315–330. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2018.0018
Saunders, L. (2012). Faculty perspectives on information literacy as a student learning outcome. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(4), 226–236.
Schlesselman-Tarango, G., & Becerra, M. (2022). The critical information literacy leadership institute as alternative to the one-shot: Q & A with a faculty partner. College & Research Libraries, 83(5), 844–847. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.5.844
Shirato, L. (1997). Library instruction in the 1990s: A comparison with trends in two earlier LOEX surveys. Research Strategies, 15(4), 223–237
Sobel, K., Ramsey, P., & Jones, G. (2018). The professor-librarian: Academic librarians teaching credit-bearing courses. Public Services Quarterly, 14(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2017.1342584
Stellwagen, Q. H., Rowley, K. L., & Otto, J. (2022). Flip this class: Maximizing student learning in information literacy skills in the composition classroom through instructor and librarian collaboration. Journal of Library Administration, 62(6), 731–752. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2022.2102377

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.