Covert Affairs: Undercover Ways to Become a Better Liaison Librarian
I was given a new liaison area last fall (English department) and haven’t had much time to reach out and form relationships. The few attempts I’ve made to get information and feedback haven’t had many takers. I’ve also noticed some self-doubt when it comes to this subject area - there’s a lot to it and my undergrad degree doesn’t feel like adequate preparation.
So during the summer slowdown, I’m trying to be intentional about researching and upping my skills and outreach efforts. I decided to start searching to see if I could find advice from other English liaison librarians - not about specific resources, but about how they formed relationships and became more informed about the needs of their department.
Once of the first items I came across was a book chapter by Janelle M. Zauha titled “English Literature.” It has solid suggestions that don’t rely on responsive faculty. I feel like a lot of this content was known to me, but it was good to have it spelled out and refreshed. I’m listing some of the suggestions here, along with some of my own additions:
Research the curriculum. Determine which courses are required, which include non-majors, etc. If possible, identify SLOs for the courses.
Look up & read faculty publications to better understand their areas of interest and expertise
Ask the ILL office about the habits of the department
See if any syllabi from courses are available
Explore the MLA webpage
Read and promote department publications
Follow and engage with social media feeds for the department, faculty, and student groups
The chapter was a good read, and the rest of the book seems pretty decent too. “English Literature” is within in the larger work Information Literacy Instruction That Works: A Guide to Teaching by Discipline and Student Population.
Sometime in the near future, you can look forward to posts about updating LibGuides and instructional materials related to this area. Yipee!