Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
ation professionals have second master's degrees in the discipline for which they
provide information literacy services and research consultation for their disciplinary
researchers and students. These research services are possible due to their addi-
tional subject expertise.
Embedded librarianship is becoming widely accepted and implemented on
campuses. Academic librarians who hold dual degrees can leverage their theor-
etical training for instruction and research. These dual-educated liaisons serve a
vital role in the educational mission of today's colleges and universities when work-
ing with professors instructing students at higher-level undergraduate and gradu-
ate courses about the many print and electronic resources; these librarians can
also answer faculty research questions, encourage them to think critically about
class and research resources, and conduct literature reviews. These librarians are
actively engaged across campus, seeking opportunities to foster interdisciplinary
collaborations by providing research and information services.
Open educational resources provide a wide variety of tools that support learning
and challenge information professionals to reconsider their role as educators. For
example, a number of universities have partnered to create an Open Textbook
Library, recognizing that many college students struggle with the high cost of text-
books. This textbook project is aimed at faculty and students in an effort to make
higher education more affordable while providing the best possible electronic re-
sources.
Information professionals are finding themselves in vital roles as change
agents, some traveling new paths where their leadership demands risks within the
opportunities to create wider solutions for the information infrastructure. Joanne
Budler, Kansas State Librarian, was instrumental in paving the way in the creation
of a new eBook access model when she repeatedly rejected a library service
agreement. Ultimately she won the right to transfer titles from OverDrive to a new
platform (Budler 2013).
The education function can easily be recognized in the role of public librarians
as they strive to create programming that is innovative and desired by the com-
munities they serve. It is the libraries' employees that are the largest asset of the
21st-century library, not simply the collections.
Libraries and museums of all types have made the move to improve public
trust by bringing agencies into the library for educational talks that will strengthen
community-based learning. The Center of the American West has been instru-
mental in working with scientists and the general public regarding environmental
concerns. The museum's director and chair of the board is providing conversations
in the middle ground that inform, educate, and bring community members more in
touch with each other while facilitating civil discourse (Limerick 2013).
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