Presentation for the 2014 Canadian Network for Innovation in Education Conference

BEYOND LIBRARY WALLS: MEETING LIBRARY LEARNERS

OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL SPACES

Kathy Gaynor

TRU Reference & Web Services Librarian

Elizabeth Rennie

TRU Instruction & Outreach Librarian

WHO ARE WE?

What are traditional Reference Services and how are they changing?

Where are we meeting our library users at TRU:1. On Social Media2. Through chat services3. Roving reference4. Non-library spaces (Residence, Student Services, etc.)5. Embedded in their classes

Discussion: where are your students finding the library? How do you facilitate this?

TODAY’S PRESENTATION

REFERENCE: THE BIG PICTURE

REFERENCE AT TRU

…doesn’t mean that they aren’t struggling to find appropriate scholarly resources to support their academic work.

JUST BECAUSE THEY AREN’T COMING IN TO ASK QUESTIONS…

We still need to find a way to reach and teach students.

If students aren’t coming into the library, we need to find other places to meet with them.

Trends in library literature, software, and services move fast; there isn’t a shortage of new ideas to try.

The challenge is to identify which new ideas to try, how to assess whether they’re working for us, and to find the best solutions for serving the students at our campus.

THEREFORE:

Social MediaChat servicesRoving referenceNon-library

spacesEmbedded

librarians

How would these projects work in

your specific teaching

environments? How else have you

encouraged your students to connect with their library?

BEYOND THE REFERENCE DESK AT TRU

1. SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA

2. CHAT SERVICES:ASKAWAY & MEEBO

Questions asked by TRU students through AskAway and questions by students across the province answered by TRU Librarians:

CHAT SERVICES

3. ROVING REFERENCE

ROVING REFERENCE

4. NON-LIBRARY SPACES

NON-LIBRARY SPACES

5. EMBEDDED LIBRARIANS

EMBEDDED LIBRARIANS

THAT’S OUR CONTEXT; WHAT’S

YOURS?

Would any of these approaches work in your situation, or have you implemented similar initiatives at your institution?

What other ideas have you considered or tried to “get students into the library” – or to bring the library to students? How did you determine whether it worked or not?

Are there specific challenges you face in your teaching context for developing information competencies in students?

HTTP://LIBGUIDES.TRU.CA/BEYONDLIBRARYWALLS

CONCLUSIONS

http://libguides.tru.ca/beyondlibrarywalls A record of today’s discussion Our presentation slides More details on all of the programs and initiatives discussed

today

Kathy Gaynor: kgaynor@tru.caElizabeth Rennie: erennie@tru.ca

Questions?

THANK-YOU!