Aarhus University Seal

Library Presence on the Learning Platform

Short description

The teaching in information searching skills must be integrated in the academic teaching by allowing the librarian to be present on the course's learning platform (LMS). In this way, the librarian presents the relevant resources, tools and techniques in close connection with the themes and topics from the individual lessons, and at the same time is available for supervision etc.

Teacher's motivation

The librarian's presence on the course's learning platform offers the opportunity to replace the library's traditional course in subject-directed literature searches with other types of learning contributions, while at the same time maintaining the close ties with the subject course.

Description of the activity

The activity

The library has its own sub-conference (“The librarian's corner") on the subject course's conference on the learning platform, where the librarian publishes texts and has a dialogue with the students.

On the first-day of the course the librarian participates as a guest in a sequence where the lecturer and librarian together present the collaboration for the students: The objective of the library's contribution and the expectations for the students’ use of the associated librarian.

The library's presence on the learning platform contains four elements:

  • Contact information (with photo) of the librarians
  • Area for publishing the weekly text for the course participants
  • An overall description of information sources, which grows over time as they are presented in the weekly texts
  • A matching collection of links to the presented sources.

Based on the plan for the course, the library publishes a text for each lesson, which makes use of that day's topic to present one or more information resources.

As a general rule the text comprises:

  • Direct links to supplementary reading on the weekly topic (a book in the collection; one or more articles in a journal or a work of reference)
  • A brief description of one or more information resources
  • A recipe for how you can search further in these resources on the weekly topic, preferably with some tips and tricks for the actual search technique.

It may be possible for the lecturer to organise smaller assignments during the course, which utilise the knowledge of resources and techniques that is developed by the students through the library's contribution.

Outcome of the activity

The students will be presented for the subject's central information sources and will be encouraged to independently and continuously search for supplementary literature on the course topics. They will in this way develop a routine in literature and information searches within the subject area. By being encouraged to search for and read supplementary literature, it will be possible to improve the benefit from the subject course that the students gain. The presence of a librarian will encourage queries about sources, resources and search techniques to be made and answered more easily. The library's contribution to the learning platform will be able to relieve the lecturer in the holding of the course.

Activities

    Examples of practice

      Basic information

      • Faculty: Arts
      • Degree Programme: German
      • Course: Text und Kultur 1 (German Literature 1750-1945) and Text und Kultur 2 (German Literature 1945-)
      • Study level: BA, 3rd and 4th semester
      • Extent: Activity
      • Primary type of activity: Acquisition, Inquiry

      Learning objectives

      The teaching in information searching skills must be integrated in the academic teaching by allowing the librarian to be present on the course's learning platform (LMS)