Translating reference expertise

© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Librarians have expertise in helping patrons to define their information needs, develop search strategies and navigate the information environment. At Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates, the authors saw a need for the university’s staff to translate that expertise to help patrons to find materials in their native language, even when they cannot speak that language. Design/methodology/approach: The authors, one Arabic speaker and one non-Arabic speaker, developed a workshop for their peers outlining strategies for translating our expertise as library professionals. In this paper, the authors share both the strategies for translating expertise that they recommended in the workshop, and information on their process in developing those recommendations. Findings: The balance of expertise between the library staff and the patron is somewhat shifted when the search is being conducted in a foreign language. The librarian provides expertise with issues of access. The patron is the expert in her language, the transaction will not be successful without the patron’s contribution and full engagement. Demonstrating a willingness and capability to contribute to the process of searching in the patron’s native language is what is most important. Originality/value: While there is evidence that libraries are providing foreign language collections and that librarians are considering how to deliver services to English as a Second Language (ESL) patrons, the literature suggests that the profession is not generally focusing on how English-speaking librarians can use their expertise to help patrons to access materials in their native languages

Reforming the undergraduate experience

This chapter examines common objectives in some of the major initiatives in higher education. It highlights the role of librarians and libraries in higher education refor

A Collaborative Voyage to Improve Students\u27 Career Information Literacy

Librarians, a member of the Hotel College faculty, and a member of the Career Services staff at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas collaborated in the design, implementation and evaluation of a non-traditional research assignment asking students to demonstrate real world information literacy skills. Session attendees will explore the process by which the traditional librarian-teaching faculty member collaboration grew into a richer project involving a non-traditional partnering. Attendees will be guided through a discussion on levels of collaboration and an audit of potential non-traditional partner opportunities at their own institutions. Attendees will examine the product of this partnership: an assignment that asks students to generate informed questions to ask in a job interview. The assignment was designed to be useable in larger classes where a classic “term paper” style research assignment might be unrealistic to effectively administer and grade. After a session with the librarians on conducting research, students enrolled in a course on professional development within the hospitality industry are required to develop questions that they might ask of an interviewer that demonstrate the company- and industry-specific knowledge they gleaned via their research. Students are motivated by the idea of positioning themselves favorably in an interview in a way that a traditional term paper on a company or an industry fails to motivate. Attendees will brainstorm ways a similar approach (assigning the development of informed questions) might be used in different settings. The presentation will close by describing the personal and professional benefits of collaboration for those involved

A collaborative voyage to improve students\u27 career information literacy

Librarians, a member of the Hotel College faculty, and a member of the Career Services staff at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas collaborated in the design, implementation and evaluation of a non-traditional research assignment asking students to demonstrate real world information literacy skills. Session attendees will explore the process by which the traditional librarian-teaching faculty member collaboration grew into a richer project involving a non-traditional partnering. Attendees will be guided through a discussion on levels of collaboration and an audit of potential non-traditional partner opportunities at their own institutions. Attendees will examine the product of this partnership: an assignment that asks students to generate informed questions to ask in a job interview. The assignment was designed to be useable in larger classes where a classic “term paper” style research assignment might be unrealistic to effectively administer and grade. After a session with the librarians on conducting research, students enrolled in a course on professional development within the hospitality industry are required to develop questions that they might ask of an interviewer that demonstrate the company- and industry-specific knowledge they gleaned via their research. Students are motivated by the idea of positioning themselves favorably in an interview in a way that a traditional term paper on a company or an industry fails to motivate. Attendees will brainstorm ways a similar approach (assigning the development of informed questions) might be used in different settings

Mission Possible: A Retreat to Prepare Librarians to Infiltrate Upper-level Curricula

From its humble beginnings a scant fifty years ago as a small desert school, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) has rapidly evolved into a dynamic urban academic institution dedicated to creating a learning environment that empowers students to become lifelong learners. UNLV\u27s first classes were held in 1957, and its solitary campus building housed all of the classrooms, offices, science labs, and a library of 2,000 books managed by a part-time librarian. Today, the UNLV Libraries include the 302,000 square foot Lied Library, three campus branches, 125 employees, and a book collection that expanded to well past a million volumes. A multitude of electronic library resources has become a key element of scholarly research and a necessary focus for information literacy (IL) instruction in the UNLV Libraries