I just attended a database demonstration for one of our newest purchases. Lots of science faculty there, which was wonderful to see. Apparently, our teaching faculty can be lured in with free food. 🙂 I was able to talk summer camp stuff with our Chemistry partner. Eric has fantastic ideas when it comes to teaching the middle school students in the sciences. They loved him last year and were even asking for him this past weekend. He and our resident Archaeologist will make a tremendous teaching team. It’s interesting to work with professors beyond the typical one-shot library sessions. I think in a more collaborative and teaching-intensive environment, professors can truly see what librarians are capable of in the classroom. Research skills become merely the means for students to learn the content. Once students are empowered with research abilities, their world of knowledge opens up. I have definitely seen this in cooperative classes with Dr. Kintz, Anthropology. But it’s essential that librarians and faculty teach together beyond that one-shot session.

The database demo becomes a perfect opportunity to connect with faculty who we typically don’t work with. It’s important to see where their needs and interests lie. It’s essential to get a conversation started, whether it’s over a shameless “carrot” of free food and technology or before/after a campus-centered meeting. Librarians must become increasingly involved in campus activities so that they can get their face out there and become a recognizable member of the college community. Even to this day, I find it difficult to leave the library when there is so much work to be done at my desk. But without “outside” visits, friendly lunches, cooperative volunteer/service work, no one on campus will be aware of all that the library has to offer. Professors and students know to a certain extent, but they are always amazed when you can keep wowing them with new discoveries. I heard that very level of excitement from Eric who was just discovering the power of Scopus.