Outreach and
Research & Instruction
in libraries
Roberto Vargas
Abigail Weil
Simon Elichko
Agenda
Library types
Free Library discussion
What's R&I librarianship?
Break
Libraries Outreach
Library Types
Image credit: BayNet (Katherine Becvar, Tawny Dovico)
Free Library
Free Library
What happened? What are your reactions?
What is the Free Library?
Did you open any links in the articles? If so, what did you find?
What is the relationship between the Free Library and the City of Philadelphia, and what are the implications of that relationship?
What was the role of the union?
How long between the first article and the second article?
What can you deduce about the role of this kind of media coverage? What was the role of social media?
What is Research & Instruction librarianship?
Medium
techniques
value
space
Julie Mehretu Empirical Construction, Istanbul 2003. Museum of Modern Art
vs
meaning or content
Content evolves
so does technique and research
Question:
Which modern tools or knowledge would have seemed unbelievable or unfathomable to you during your younger years?
bibliographer
subject librarian
reference librarian
instruction librarian
research librarian
more subject-specific and collection-focused
more general and interaction-focused
information literacy
librarian
research + instruction librarian
two strands of librarianship
What R&I librarianship
looks like in practice:
*at a liberal arts college
- collection development and management
- reference (answering questions, holding consultations)
- subject liaison duties (e.g. teaching class sessions, facilitating digital scholarship projects)
- student programs & jobs
- committee work
what about at larger universities?
and public libraries?
What do librarians teach?
Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how
information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning."
- Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education
Citizenship in a modern democracy involves more than knowledge of how to access vital information. It also involves a capacity to recognize propaganda, distortion, and other misuses and abuses of information. ...Information literacy provides insight into the manifold ways in which people can all be deceived and misled.”
Final report, American Library Association Presidential Committee on Information Literacy (1989)
Both educators and librarians must help students see how networked systems affect how they read, and how they come to know things. Ultimately, students must learn how to read these systems — the architectures, infrastructures, and fundamental belief systems — so they can put what they read in context and determine whether or not it’s trustworthy."
Allison Head, Reading in the Age of Distrust. Project Information Literacy. (2021)
Some things students report learning
about from librarians:
- Selecting and recommending sources
- Searching the catalog and databases
- Identifying search terms
- Helping to understand the assignment or task
- Determining concept areas; determining what to include in paper; developing and clarifying research topic
- Developing a research strategy
- Teaching how to use data and information and determine if it’s credible
- Using the library facility and services
- Reducing stress and providing encouragement and other affective benefits
break
Libraries Outreach
Concepts, questions, and creativity
Roberto Vargas
Head of Research & Instruction + Research Librarian for Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies
rvargas1@swarthmore.edu
Abigail Weil
Research & Instruction Outreach Librarian
aweil1@swarthmore.edu
Simon Elichko
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
selichk1@swarthmore.edu
Thank you!
r+i?
By Swarthmore Reference
