Master of Information and Library Science Capstone Portfolio
Understanding the Library Within the Context of Higher Education
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3.  The research librarian understands the library within the context of higher education (its purpose and goals) and the needs of students, faculty, and researchers.

"Understands teaching, learning, and research, and seeks to provide services that will enhance these endeavors

Is able to help users learn 

Is an advocate for the library and the university

Is able to communicate the importance of library services to the higher education community

Serves as an effective member of the university

Is an expert consultant to the university on information

Participates in and supports fund-raising efforts on behalf of the university"1



1. Understands teaching, learning, and research, and seeks to provide services that will enhance these endeavors


  • Graduate Assistantship with Dr. Yan Quan Liu
  • ILS680 Evaluation And Research with Dr. Eino Sierpe

Several classes addressed the issues of teaching, learning and research  and the services that provide them in a library setting. The college and university class exposed us to the theory while the research class, the adult services class and the Graduate Assistantship provided hands on exposure to building these skills. Having an opportunity at both the teaching, learning and research aspects gives the novice librarian a good idea of both the needs of the student and the professor, both patrons of the library.


2. Is able to help users learn 


  • ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack
  • Graduate Assistantship with Dr. Yan Quan Liu

One large component of the university librarian is the teaching aspect. Research librarians are not only information providers or facilitators but information gathering instructors as well. Very often freshmen are taken to the library to learn from a librarian about the collection and ways to gather information from that particular library. There are opportunities of teaching in a classroom setting with the invitation of a professor who would like his students to learn more about information gathering and evaluation.
I was given a chance to teach a review class which gave me a lot of insight into the diversity of students and the different learning styles and the amount of information they have about information gathering.

3. Is an advocate for the library and the university



                ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack
ILS565 Library Management with Dr. James Kusack


The librarian is part of the library as well as the greater university and as such supports both entities. As a professional she represents both library and university at professional meetings and conferences both domestically and internationally. She takes part in numerous groups to support the profession as a whole but always as a representative of the home institution. She may conduct lectures and symposia of her own initiative or as a guest at another institution.


4. Is able to communicate the importance of library services to the higher education community



                ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack
ILS565 Library Management with Dr. James Kusack


This is a very important skill for a university librarian to have becasue not everyone in the community understands the role of librarians. There is a duality of roles for librarians in that for faculty they are both colleagues in the teaching aspect of university life but they also serve as expert information support for faculty research. The duality of the librarians role may be problematic at times if it is not fully understood by the community.  the librarian is also manager of a department with several paraprofessionals under their direction. 


5. Serves as an effective member of the university


  •    ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack

This is a major issue addressed in the college and university class. Librarians, depending on the institution may be considered part of the faculty. As faculty they are required to do research and to publish and may receive tenure. They often have a doctorate in a subject in order to do their job of collection developer, collection manager and subject reference librarian. Regardless of the position they are both colleague to faculty in the teaching and learning process of students but they have a dual role of also supporting faculty research needs. 


6. Is an expert consultant to the university on information


  • ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack
  • ILS565 Library Management with Dr. James Kusack

This is the core relationship of university and library of information gatherer and information provider. The librarian is expert in searching the internet in analyzing the information found, in determining what information the patron needs, in teaching information and searching literacy. This is for both faculty,students and guest researchers. 


7. Participates in and supports fund-raising efforts on behalf of the university

  • ILS560 College and University Libraries with Dr. James Kusack
  • ILS565 Library Management with Dr. James Kusack

 Again funding issues were discussed in the two classes with Dr. Kusack. The libraries financial matters are a management issue which entails cooperation with funding authorities and the development office of the university and or the library. Depending on the size of the institution it might be a one person operation or a group effort.  
 

1 Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) (1999) Shaping The Future:
 ASERL's Competencies For Research Librarians. Retrieved May 14, 2009 from: http://www.aserl.org/statements/competencies/competencies.htm

 Corner Image: Books.gif : GIF Image - Size 6677 bytes - 84X75 pixels. Retrieved August 19, 2006, from:http://build.tripod.lycos.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/pictures/objects/law/books.gif  

2008 Capstone portfolio for Master of Information and Library Science Degree  for Southern Connecticut State University