Library Liaison with non-academic units: a new application for a traditional model

Abstract

This paper suggests that traditional models of liaison librarianship, which focus on liaison with academic units such as teaching departments and specific colleges within institutions, should be adapted and then expanded to include nonacademic units as well. Although the literature demonstrates that understandings of liaison work have evolved, it still contains almost no examples of how to extend library liaison beyond traditional academic units in a systematic way. As a result, existing liaison programs are too narrowly conceived, and the strengths of the liaison model are not being fully exploited. By adapting the structures in place to support traditional liaison, such programs can be expanded to include nonacademic units as well. As a result, libraries gain opportunities for broader collaboration on campus. Suggestions for identifying targets for formal nonacademic liaison are provided, as are guidelines for determining suitable liaison activities and ensuring administrative support within the library.

Academic libraries as active contributors to student wellness

“…Fullerton (2011) asserts that providing wellness opportunities outside the more traditional venues of health and recreation centers can be a more inclusive and far-reaching way to impact student wellness. Dahl (2007) envisions these partnerships to include the library, expanding the traditional liaison role to include non-academic units that support students' perhaps unmet needs. Albertsons Library at Boise State provides an example of a more informal collaboration, establishing a successful, multi-faceted partnership with campus Health Services to facilitate student wellbeing.…”

Side-by-side, but from different worlds: service and resource provision by academic health sciences libraries to their affiliated hospitals

“…Library liaisons to the hospital can provide a consistent face and voice for the library, as well as facilitate communication about licensing and authentication issues [11]. The low number of libraries that had no library in the hospital but had a hospital liaison (n513, 45%) was surprising, because liaison programs are a staple in academic libraries, and hospital staff may be one of the largest populations of library patrons.…”

“…Information can be pieced together from articles about education, staff sharing, Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) projects, and consortia licensing among libraries and governments, but information that focuses on the academic health sciences library-hospital partnership and its challenges is lacking [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The 2006The -2007 Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AASHL) annual statistics addressed library service to affiliated hospitals, asking many similar questions, but the AAHSL survey and data were not available until after this study was conducted [9].…”

The Virtual Library Liaison: A Case Study at an Online University

“…Motin and Salela (2006) describe a liaison program that integrates information technologists, Web designers, and others into the liaison team both to learn about one another's roles and to add value to the services the library can provide to faculty and students. Dahl (2007) advocates that assigning library liaisons to nonacademic units helps libraries to uncover opportunities and develop partnerships with all areas of the university. She further concludes that assigning liaisons to nonacademic units helps professionals in other areas to understand the library's role in teaching, learning, and research activities; and improves the likelihood that the library will be included in the initial planning stages of programs and projects.…”