Bridging the gap

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this paper is to profile the evolution of library services and information literacy instruction provided for transfer students in collaboration with other campus units at a Master’s level institution and for librarians wishing to develop services for this population. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a case study enhanced by a literature review, outlining the development of services, resources and instruction for transfer students at one institution. Findings This paper provides information about the need for library services designed specifically for transfer students at four-year institutions and the importance of cross campus collaborations to develop and offer these resources. Originality/value The literature on the provision of library services to transfer students is minimal. This case study details the development of cross campus collaborations that resulted in enhanced library services for this population.

Assessing and Improving the Experience of Underrepresented Populations: A Participatory Design Approach

“…These relatively few studies include rural and tribal library communities, 2 international students, 3 Latino students, 4 first-generation students, 5 Indigenous peoples, 6 and transfer students. 7 Taken together, these studies demonstrate a motivation towards assessing and improving the library experiences of diverse communities. This shift toward critically assessing the needs of multicultural users is significant for our field, 8 as it requires an empathetic appreciation of the individual journey of users.…”

Creating a Library Orientation Card Game to Reach New Transfer Students

“…Aware of these common challenges that transfer students often face in transitioning to a new institution, some librarians have called for academic libraries to provide more orientation and instruction sessions designed with the transfer student population and their needs in mind (Phillips & Atwood, 2010;Tag, 2004). In recent years, librarians have designed an information literacy game in Blackboard (Kearns, Kirsch, & Cononie, 2017), personal librarian programs (MacDonald & Mohanty, 2017;Lafrance & Kealey, 2017), and other library services and programs (McBride, Gregor, & McCallister, 2017) specifically for transfer students.…”

“Don’t Make Me Feel Dumb”: Transfer Students, the Library, and Acclimating to a New Campus

“…Another focus-library outreach efforts for transfer students-also identifies orientations as important (Cox & Johnson, 1992;Kraemer et al, 2004), as well as a few more strategies: a collaboration between an academic library and its local writing center in the creation of a research and writing course for transfer students (Tipton & Bender, 2006) and personal librarian programs (Coats & Pemberton, 2017;Lafrance & Kealey, 2017;Macdonald & Mohanty, 2017). McBride, Gregor, and McCallister (2017) and Sandelli (2017) reinforced the importance of librarians' commitment to working with other groups on campus, participating in orientations, establishing relationships with feeder school librarians, and providing resources tailored for transfer students.…”