Can Academic Librarians Push for Collaboration?

Johnson, Meghan

Z

I was really pleased with the lengthy debate we had in our last workshop. It’s clear that there are some very strong opinions on how best to encourage collaborative instruction between teachers and librarians at all levels of education. We had discussed the strategy of forcing collaboration in order to use the librarian’s services or even bringing in the higher-up’s. Of these 2, I favor bringing in the higher-ups. Not only could this be viewed as another level of collaboration, but it also shows that you have the support of your system.

I work in an academic library at a university that is on the quarter system. One thing that I have found (including when I was looking for faculty willing to collaborate with me for module 3) is that many are unwilling to sacrifice any of their spare time in the fast-paced quarter system to collaborate with others.

In a system as large and diverse as a research institution, would our 2 strategies we discussed in our workshop hold true? I have found many articles that encourage collaboration between faculty, but none that include library instructors in their discussions. Most academic librarians still seem to think the best strategy is to tip-toe around our all-important faculty and follow their plan. Because most academic systems will support their faculty in almost all things, how do you think academic librarians can encourage more collaboration at their universities? Maybe a more appropriate question, should academic librarians push for more collaborative lesson planning in the same way that elementary and high school librarians may want to? 

  

Labels: Z-Discussions