Students are at the Center of Our Work
Look for ways your work contributes to student success. If you don't see a connection between student success and your work, think of a new project or process that could make the connection. Student success is our highest priority.
Instruction Librarians Teach
STLCC Instruction Librarians help students define their research needs, choose resources, develop search strategies, evaluate search results, and assist in understanding citation formats. In the electronic environments of e-mail and chat reference, librarians strive to instruct, guide, and coach rather than just provide answers.
Whenever possible, interactions with students should be transformative, not transactional. A transformative interaction is one in which some kind of positive change takes place -- it could be as simple as a change in the way a student understands the organization of materials in the library, or a change in the way a student understands a particular step research process or even a change in the student's sense of belonging at the college.
Simple ways to create transformative experiences:
Begin the research interview by introducing yourself and asking the student's name.
Focus on your role as an instructor; students learn best when they can practice using a search tool or database. Instead of conducting a search for a student and giving them the information (transactional), walk and talk them through the steps to take in doing research (transformative).
Always inquire if the student would like assistance locating a book or physical spaces in the library; accompany them to the stacks, the academic support center, quiet study, etc. This often provides an opportunity for other teachable moments.
End interactions by asking if they have any other questions.
