AASL Column, July 2024

Barret Havens and Barbara Opar, column editors

Column prepared by Barbara Opar with input from AASL members

Help Us Help You

Even after working in the field of architectural librarianship for many years, the beginning of the school year is always exciting and interesting for me. Yet, it can also be fraught with anxiety for architecture librarians and architecture faculty alike. As I started to think about this, I reached out to colleagues and asked them for strategies to ease the transition to the new academic year. Here are some of their suggestions:

Here is what we do….

Subject librarians build collections, provide reference services, and research assistance (in-person, over the telephone, via email, and through a shared chat service). We welcome a role in helping the students to make the best use of their college experience and to assist you in your research. Many of us can assist you in other ways such as determining the impact of your existing publications, as well as helping you to select the best journal or publisher match for your current research.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your librarians……

Faculty members are encouraged to schedule in-person or virtual appointments with librarians at their convenience. Please don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re here to help and want to support you and your students. By connecting with us, you’ll discover the full range of services we offer, and we’ll learn how to better tailor our support to meet your needs. If we meet with you before the start of the semester, we can assist you in filling out your syllabus and making sure that there are plenty of resources available on any case studies you assign to your students. With advance notice, we can order new materials or expand digital access to select e-books. For out-of-print titles, we may be able to suggest alternatives. We can direct you to options like course reserves. Let’s work together to ensure you’re aware of all the resources available to enhance teaching, learning, and research.

Send us your syllabi and class assignments….

While this is essential when you request instruction sessions, having a syllabus at hand is useful in so many ways in addition to preparing for instruction. We can use these to help answer reference questions and properly direct students to appropriate resources. However, a syllabus can also assist us in collection development. We can review our collections for relevant materials as well as consider adding more resources in targeted areas. The library can be better prepared to assist students by building collections with the kinds of resources students are seeking.

Instruction requires prep……

We want to help you. When you and your students understand how the library operates, it helps all of us. To help us properly prepare—which may include reserving a room- please allow at least seven days advance notice. This will give us the time needed to tailor the information and gear the session toward specific assignments and requirements for the course. Meeting with you beforehand to discuss expectations helps us, you, and ultimately the students enrolled in the class. We may be able to develop special research guides to support the course. If you plan to send your entire design studio to the library with an assignment to complete, please give us advance notice so we can be sure to have an adequate number of staff and/or librarians available to focus on helping them.

Workshops and other training….

Please stay tuned for announcements via email or other channels related to workshops or other services that librarians offer, particularly around the start of the semester. Help us get the word out by encouraging your colleagues and students to take advantage of those services.

Take advantage of the forms at hand….

Explore your library’s website to locate web-based forms related to different services such as course reserve requests, instruction sessions, purchase requests (books, etc.), and more. Using those forms helps us to assist you in the most expeditious and effective way by gathering all necessary information in one communication.

That said—–If you hear from your students that they have concerns about the library, our hours, policies, collections, or facilities, let us know. We endeavor to be a learning organization and we seek continuous improvement. Let’s work together to make the coming year a good one. Reach out. We are here to assist you with your teaching and research and to help you prepare your students for their lives beyond campus.

“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” Phil Collins, “Son of Man”