The Liaison Librarian Program – Meeting Faculty Needs? Daphne Flanagan, AUS University Librarian, Alanna Ross, AUS Associate University Librarian for Public Services,

Introduction Liaison Librarian Program 2010 Project 2015 Project

American University of Sharjah 6000 students 384 faculty Co-educational College of Engineering / College of Arts & Sciences / College of Architecture, Art & Design / School of Business Administration American-style curriculum

AUS Library SEATING FOR 900 STUDENTS 140,000 PRINT AND MEDIA 200,000 EBOOKS 50+ ELECTRONIC DATABASES

AUS Library 135+ DESKTOP COMPUTERS 45+ LAPTOPS TO CHECKOUT GROUP STUDY ROOMS PRESENTATION ROOMS

10 LIBRARIANS 13 FTE STAFF 30 STUDENT ASSISTANTS

AUS Faculty His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed AlQasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Sharjah, and President of American University of Sharjah greets 42 new faculty.

Liaison Librarian Program Liaison Librarian Program is the link between the library and academic programs Intended to increase the Library’s effectiveness 7 librarians are liaisons

Liaison Librarian Program Work with faculty to help students gain library and research skills Develop web-based tools to provide students with point-of-need assistance, self-paced tutorials and subject guides Faculty recommend materials purchase for the library Provide reference and research assistance

Liaison Librarian Program Regular communication including: s Newsletter targeted to faculty Face-to-face meetings Departmental meetings

Liaison Librarian Program Assessment Faculty meetings Findings 2015 Survey / Faculty Interviews Findings Future

Meetings with Faculty Purpose To further develop work relationships between faculty and liaison librarians To gather specific information and learn from faculty To provide library-related information to faculty * Modeled on a NYU Libraries project

Protocol Identify and select 8-10 faculty Explain that the information is to improve library resources and services and to better understand their information needs as a teacher and researcher Each librarian had a script to follow with specific questions Take detailed notes

Meetings College of Engineering9 Writing Studies / English9 International Studies4 Multimedia & Communications4 Architecture, Art & Design7 Business Administration8 TOTAL 41

Sample Questions

Questions USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES AS A RESEARCHER Can you describe a bit about your focus as a researcher and the vision for your research?

Questions USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES AS A RESEARCHER How do you stay current with new developments in your field of research?

Questions USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES AS A RESEARCHER At what point in the research process – developing a hypothesis, structuring your research, gathering insights, and publishing – do you use the library?

Questions USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES AS A TEACHER Can you describe the kinds of classes you teach and how you prepare? Are you developing recommended reading lists?

Questions USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES AS A TEACHER As you go through the teaching process, are there tools you find particularly useful? What is the most helpful thing that librarians can do right now to help your students with research papers?

After the meetings Compiled information from each librarian Met to discuss findings Discussed ways we might improve future project Developed an action plan

Findings Under pressure to produce research Prefer to use resources they have used in the past Know exactly which resources they need for their research Use a lot of their own resources Divided on the use of ebooks / print books They are very happy with ILL / document delivery Faculty are focusing research on local issues

Lessons learned Trim the number of questions Approach the meetings less formally Try to elicit examples & scenarios Start earlier in the year

Faculty Survey 2015 Aim: “To explore faculty use of the library liaison program with a view to enhancing existing services and outreach”

Faculty Survey 2015 Purpose How have faculty expectations changed? Where might existing gaps be evident? “Fleshing out” our own preconceived notions of faculty needs How are existing services being used? What are some of the challenges faculty encounter? How might we respond?

Faculty Survey 2015 Survey 16 questions Qualtrics Survey Software Administered over a two week period 95 respondents (24.73% response rate)

Sample Questions

Faculty Survey 2015 How have you used your liaison librarian’s services within the last 12 months? (select all options that apply) I requested the purchase of library materials / resources I was assisted with a research question I asked for library research instruction for my class I met with a librarian I attended a library workshop / training session I haven’t used the service Other (please specify)

Service Use

Faculty Survey 2015 Which of the following liaison services are important to you? (please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 = extremely important and 5 = not important at all) Inform faculty about services and resources Acquire books and journals Teach undergraduate students research skills Demonstrate electronic databases to faculty Offer seminars/workshops about subject-specific library resources Develop research guides to subject specific library resources Collaborate with faculty on teaching students information literacy skills Consult with faculty about their research

Most important services Ranked overall 1. Acquire books and journals 2. Inform faculty about services and resources 3. Teach graduate students research skills 4. Teach undergraduate students research skills 5. Collaborate with faculty on teaching students information literacy skills 6. Consult with faculty about their research 7. Demonstrate electronic databases to faculty 8. Develop research guides to subject specific library resources 9. Offer seminars / workshops about subject-specific library resources

Targeting Service Provision Ranked overall 1. Acquire books and journals Inform faculty about services and resources Teach graduate students research skills Teach undergraduate students research skills 5. Collaborate with faculty on teaching students information literacy skills 6. Consult with faculty about their research 7. Demonstrate electronic databases to faculty 8. Develop research guides to subject specific library resources 9. Offer seminars / workshops about subject-specific library resources Engineering

Targeting Service Provision Ranked overall 1. Acquire books and journals Inform faculty about services and resources Teach graduate students research skills Teach undergraduate students research skills Collaborate with faculty on teaching students information literacy skills 6. Consult with faculty about their research 7. Demonstrate electronic databases to faculty 8. Develop research guides to subject specific library resources 9. Offer seminars / workshops about subject-specific library resources Engineering Arts & Sciences

Faculty Survey 2015 What do you find challenging about the research and publication process? (select all options that apply) Using library search tools Accessing secondary sources Selecting a publication channel Managing citations Copyright guidance Preserving gathered research Measuring research impact following publication Other (please specify)

Challenges for faculty What do you find challenging about the research and publication process?

Art & Sciences 1. Selecting a publication channel 2. Measuring research impact 3. Managing citations 4. Copyright guidance Architecture, Art & Design 1. Copyright guidance 2. Measuring research impact / managing citations 3. Selecting a publication channel Business Administration 1. Measuring research impact 2. Copyright guidance / managing citations / selecting a publication channel Engineering 1. Managing citations 2. Measuring research impact 3. Copyright guidance 4. Selecting a publication channel Targeting liaison support

Faculty Survey 2015 Findings Materials acquisition is still a major focus Faculty needs differ across disciplines Faculty indicate a range of research and publication challenges currently not supported Survey data needs to be supplemented

Faculty Interviews Pilot Study Aim: “to explore and describe faculty research and publication practice from within and across disciplines at AUS”

Faculty Interviews Initiated in October 2015 Pilot with 3 faculty – School of Business Administration IRB approval Semi-structured interviews – 12 questions, audio-recorded Published article focus

Focus areas Role of the library and research challenges Selection of a publication channel Tracking research impact Copyright challenges

Themes identified Finding regional data is difficult Pressure to publish in journals of high impact/rank Consult library databases to identify gaps in the literature Restrict searching to specific databases and journals Challenged to find balance between teaching & research Successfully selecting a publication channel improves with experience Not interested in OA publishing Tracking citations is important Clear understanding of copyright restrictions with publishers

The future Helping faculty figure out their research impact Department level support targeted by librarians Learning to speak the language of our academics Identifying specific resource needs Developing librarians’ skills Strategic allocation of librarians’ time

Thank you