Collaborating for Success: A Case Study on Mentoring, Partnering, and Teaching

Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) graduates seeking employment in academic libraries are often expected to possess user instruction and public service skills. However, it is difficult for students to achieve this experience through coursework alone. To address this disconnect, librarians at the University of Maryland (UMD) College Park Libraries created a Research and Teaching Fellowship to allow MLIS students at UMD to gain practical instruction experience. The authors present the experience of one MLIS student in collaboration with a subject librarian and a faculty member to plan, implement, and assess an information literacy instruction session for an undergraduate course in public health. The article discusses the benefits of mentoring for the MLIS student and subject liaison librarian, and the impact on the undergraduate student learning. This article addresses a gap in the literature on opportunities for MLIS students to gain instruction, collaboration, and assessment experience by presenting a successful model in place at UMD