Q: Do you know what your liaison librarian can do for you? A: Each of our librarians liaises with one or more academic units (programs, departments, divisions or faculties) to ensure that the library-related needs around research, teaching and collections of the unit’s faculty members and graduate students are addressed.
Q: Do you know who your liaison librarian is? A: See the complete list of liaison librarians on the Libraries website.
Your liaison librarian can do a great deal to advance your – and your unit’s – research and teaching goals by getting in touch with you about your needs and keeping you in touch with developments in the Libraries.
Keeping you informed
Your liaison librarian --
Communicates each fall with the faculty and graduate students of your unit to provide information on and seek feedback on such themes as:
New resources available through the Libraries
New library services
Library learning opportunities for faculty and students
Developments in scholarly communications
Informs you or your unit of any developments in the Libraries that may be relevant to your work
Contacts new faculty members in your unit to introduce them to the Libraries' resources and services, and to learn their specific needs
Keeping us informed
As an individual faculty member or graduate student you can --
Inform your liaison librarian of ways to enhance the Libraries' collections.
Contact your liaison librarian when your course contains an assignment with a significant library research component. The librarian can suggest ways to make the assignment run more smoothly and make it an even more useful experience for your students.
Let your liaison librarian know if there are activities that the Libraries could undertake to address teaching or research needs that may not be touched on in this article.
Tell your students about us, so that we can learn about their needs. Students are not always aware of the role that librarians have at a university, and they may have anxiety about approaching the reference desks in the Libraries for assistance with a research assignment.
As a faculty member (or committee) designated by your unit for library liaison, you can --
Convey important recommendations or questions about the libraries that originate with your unit colleagues.
Facilitate communication between your liaison librarian and your unit colleagues regarding such unit matters as plans for new programs or areas of specialization, new faculty hires, new graduate students, events where the librarian's presence may be valuable (e.g., orientation week events, department meetings, or research seminars).
Supporting Research, Teaching and Collections
To support your research, your liaison librarian --
Provides individual reference/research consultations with faculty members, graduate students, or research assistants which may include:
Identifying relevant tools for handling information queries and offering guidance on over 200 electronic databases
Assisting with the construction of literature searches
Identifying and/or locating specific information such as bibliographic citations, statistical information, or documents produced by government agencies
Giving citation analysis advice relevant to particular authors or papers, or advising on impact factor assessment for journals in a given field.
Keeps abreast of developments in scholarly communications to ensure that the Libraries are able to take advantage of emerging opportunities for better access to scholarly information.
Welcomes and responds to your requests and recommendations for specific library resources, including but not limited to:
Books and journals
Bibliographic or full text journal databases
Films (usually on DVD or videocassette), music, or other audiovisual resource
Government information and statistical, geospatial and other data sets
Succeeds in meeting most book and media requests, and reviews journal and database subscriptions carefully to ensure that their ongoing costs can be accommodated in the overall collection budget.
Because units differ in their cultures and traditions, the details of a library liaison relationship will vary -- but the bottom line is that you can contact your liaison librarian with any library-related question or concern.
