Blended Librarianship

To teach or not to teach? The question of the academic librarian's pedagogical competencies in the digital age

“…Shank and Bell (2011, 106) admit that 'while the teaching role of the librarian has been developing and evolving over the past century, it has not altogether been completely agreed upon'. It would seem that their evolving blended librarian framework is aimed at proactively consolidating this process (Shank and Bell 2011). This article found the aspect of their work relating to the concepts of 'disruptive innovations' and blending of LIS, IT and pedagogical skills to respond to technology disruptions in a highly digitized higher education environment very useful.…”

“…Bell and Shank's (Bell and Shank 2004;Shank and Bell 2011: 106) suggestion about the blending of traditional librarian skills with IT and pedagogical skills in a pluralist information environment such as that of the university library to proactively advance the integration of academic librarians in the wider teaching and learning process of the academy and so mitigate the marginalization of academic librarians in the face of 'disruptive innovations', is a useful one. However, further research needs to be undertaken to ascertain how sustainable Bell and Shank's (Bell and Shank 2004;Shank and Bell 2011) evolving concepts are in taking forward the pedagogical role of the academic librarian. This study, which was part of a wider LIS competency study, used job advertisements as its primary source of empirical data and a review of literature, supported by relevant data from an online generic survey of academic libraries in…”

Co-teaching in information literacy during work placements: the librarian’s role

“…Literature reviews show that there are numerous studies about how librarians and faculty work in the planning phase to integrate IL instruction into the faculties' courses and to prepare librarians to teach students on campus. It is an important part of the process to be integrated into the curriculum, but as highlighted by Shank, Bell and Zabel (2011): "…librarians can and should be integral educational partners as well as a catalyst for students' knowledge, enrichment and inquiry". This is consistent with Lloyd's thinking and also presupposes collaborative teaching partnerships between librarians and academics.…”

“…Lloyd (2013) emphasised co-participation in the shaping, negotiation and renegotiation of the community as crucial. Shank et al (2011) highlighted the importance of being an integral, educational partner and in UCLA's Freshman Clusters, the librarian collaborated with the faculty on everything; from content in web sites to supervising in discussion for a (Lindholm, 2007). Through participating in the whole process, the librarian acquired increased insight into how she could contribute with her own competences and customise them to other's expertise.…”

Playing Games to Improve the Quality of the Sources Students Cite in their Papers

“…4 Blended librarians embrace educational technology and design thinking in creating innovative approaches to their educational role. 5 The Association of College and Research Libraries' Information Competency Standards for Higher Education have been mapped to progressively advancing levels of cognitive development. 6 In response, new methods of delivering information literacy instruction are being explored in which information technology is utilized to help support student learning.…”