Social Media Curation (2014)

Chapter 6 Curation in Academic Libraries Abstract In chapter 6 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 50, no. 7), Social Media Curation, the authors report on interviews with academic librarians, which emphasize the importance of embedding support for learning in curation efforts and online learning and of teaching academics new skills for managing their own information. The authors also discuss an ethnographic study of how faculty members save, share, cite, and archive scholarly information. The examples of Capella and the Georgia Institute of Technology present strategies that engage library communities in learning and in learning to learn. At Capella, Instructional Services librarian Erika Bennett describes a process for the thoughtful design, development, and testing of LibGuides as a chief tool for delivery of instruction. At Georgia Tech Library, Crystal Renfro and Mary Axford maintain a variety of LibGuides as well as the blog Personal Knowledge Management for Academia and Librarians. They believe in the value of personal knowledge management as a personal learning strategy for their graduate students and faculty. Their blog, workshops, and curation efforts support the discovery of curation tools and strategies. And at Penn State, librarian Ellysa Stern Cahoy and her team shared discoveries from a recently conducted fifteen-month ethnographic study that examined how faculty save, share, cite, and archive scholarly information. The study reaffirmed the need for unification of the entire scholarly research cycle, including the acts of finding, organizing, and archiving information. Our academic interviews emphasized the importance of embedding support for learning in curation efforts and online learning, as well as the importance of teaching academics new skills for managing and curating their own information landscapes. Erika Bennett, Capella University (September 16, 2013) Erika Bennett lives curation as an embedded practice. As the Capella University Instructional Services librarian, Erika has a unique approach to digital curation. Capella University operates entirely online, heightening the necessity for its librarians to be truly embedded into courses. The team of twelve Capella librarians use LibGuides as their chief tool for curation and instruction delivery. They have a well-designed, smoothly working system for designing guides, integrating them within online courses by ensuring that they correspond to the targeted competencies within each unique course. The team develops instructional tie-ins to course competencies, tests all tools and guides before they go live, continually reviews them, and gathers feedback. Capella's curated resources and instruction are integral to the working of the online course rooms, the main learner portal (iGuide), and specific program research. Instruction for doctoral-level information literacy developed by Capella librarians has been recognized by ACRL and is part of the Peer Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) database. Capella's competency-based curriculum enjoins an instructional design approach to library services. We spoke with Erika on September 16, 2013. BB: How would you describe the Capella curation workflow? EB: The library team is charged with targeting the specific competencies within each course. These competencies become the focus of the initial meeting the librarians hold with the faculty who are the designers of the online courses. The university has three information literacy teams: a reference team that fields traditional reference interviews, calls, or questions; an access team of web technicians; and an instructional services team whose members serve as dissertation consultants. We develop LibGuides for specific purposes. We develop assignment guides; database guides; program-specific research guides for education, business, nursing, and so on; skill development guides; and subject guides. …