Faculty Research Support

  • St. Olaf Libraries
  • Research Support
  • For Faculty

Our Pedagogy

Research & Instruction Librarians use a literacies framework to teach skills and habits of mind that students need to be savvy users and producers of information and lifelong learners. Our instruction draws from these fundamental principles and is shaped in collaboration with faculty.

A Liaison for Every Department

Every academic department has a dedicated Research and Instruction librarian liaison for faculty (see below). Liaisons consult with faculty on projects involving research and help to train students in related areas. 

What We Ask of Faculty

  • Two-week notice – Due to high demand and limited staff, we encourage you to contact your liaison librarian as early as possible to to arrange for class instruction in order to ensure their availability, and a minimum of two weeks prior to your desired instruction date. If your librarian is at capacity during your class time they will share some online resources to support your course.
  • Consultation with your librarian for all new assignments or courses – We believe that in order to set your students, and ourselves, up for success it is important to discuss the project in advance to allow us time to tailor our instruction for your students. Please plan on making an appointment with your liaison librarian well in advance of the desired instruction session.
  • Assignment Description/Syllabus – In order to ensure a high-quality, pedagogically sound instruction session with your class, we ask for the completed assignment description or syllabus describing the assignment at least two weeks prior to the instruction session. We understand that there may be tweaking up until the assignment is introduced, but the general assignment description and desired learning outcomes are extremely helpful for us in planning our instruction.
  • Make student consultations optional – R&I Librarians often consult with students one-on-one or in small groups for specific research support. Due to the high volume of these consultations, we ask that meeting time be reserved for students that seek it out, and not as a course requirement.

Research & Instruction Librarians can collaborate with you to:

  • Create a research instruction plan for your courses; topics include
  • Mind-mapping (aka, concept-mapping)
  • Building effective search strings
  • Evaluating online resources
  • Design research assignments
  • Suggest research materials to support your teaching and your department’s curriculum
  • Use Zotero to organize and cite resources
  • Navigate basic questions about copyright, fair use, and Creative Commons licenses
  • Explore open access and alternative forms of scholarly publishing
  • Develop ideas for digital scholarship projects
  • Think of effective ways to integrate technology into your research, teaching, and assignments

Who are your research librarians?