Guides by the Side: The Role of Technical Services in Information Literacy Instruction

Presenters will explore the role of technical services in library instruction, specifically as this relates to the ACRL’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This framework places emphasis on research as a highly contextual activity, where researcher practices and dispositions are linked to the communities of practice in which they occur. By extension, such communities exist and evolve semi-independently of any particular manifestation of library resources or services, meaning that libraries must be as prepared to accommodate autonomous practices and dispositions as they are to participate in shaping them. Technical services plays a significant role in determining how the library accommodates and shapes these practices and dispositions, which in turn impacts instruction. During this session, presenters will explore specific areas of overlap between technical and instructional services, especially with regard to selection, organization, and representation of resources to patrons. Presenters will then consider how collaboration across technical and instructional domains supports effective instruction, specifically within the context of the Framework. Presenters will invite participants to share their own experiences, and engage in brainstorming on how technical and instructional services personnel can work together to solve instructional challenges