Bring Yourself and Relevant Resources to Them: Becoming Embedded Online to Support Students in your Liaison Area

“Build it and they will come” is a common approach for academic libraries for providing research support to their community. Like many academic libraries, Reese Library at Augusta University creates online tools to guide students in information literacy development and research, such as library guides and video tutorials; and offers support services, “Ask a Librarian” service and “Contact Your Liaison Librarian”. Providing access through the library website, promoting them via marketing, library instruction, and orientation sessions, we hope that the students we inform peruse such tools and seek assistance when needed. Although some do, but many do not. The presentation focuses on how I became embedded online by integrating myself into the learning management system (LMS) of several education courses. This involves creating a “Library Lounge” within particular courses’ LMS – a one-stop-shop of relevant research aids, and ready access to me, their liaison librarian, within the students’ primary online space, at their point of need. After successfully trialed for four courses within one semester, the “Library Lounge” is now an ongoing practice for several courses within my liaison area. This presentation will relay my experiences in becoming embedded online in this way. Detailed will be the thought and creation process of “The Library Lounge”, the roadblocks faced, and the strategies used to overcome them. Also covered will be the benefits, particularly for online students, challenges, and potential plans for expansion. Finally, best practices and tips will be shared, so librarians can recreate and adapt “The Library Lounge” to their context