Selling library instruction on the academic campus can be hard. Yet, instruction librarians are not alone in trying to reach faculty and students. Other campus units dedicated to serving the needs of students also have difficulty in reaching those that they serve. One good example of this is campus writing centers. By working with campus writing centers, instruction librarians can better reach those they are trying to serve and also help to advance the cause of an important and needed campus service.
In the February 2000 issue of College & Research Libraries News, Carol Anne Germain in an article lists 99 ways to market the library on campus. One of these approaches is working with the campus writing center. But how does one go about doing this? At Michigan State University, the Library Instruction Unit of the Main Library has had a successful relationship with the Writing Center at MSU. This article will list several steps that can be used to approach a writing center on campus and how this approach was successful at Michigan State University.
1. Meet with writing center staff- To start this process, find out who runs the writing center. If you are lucky, the writing center will be listed in the campus directory. On many campuses, tutoring students on writing is combined with tutoring students in other subjects such as math and languages as well. It may have a name such as Learning Resources Center or Student Skills Center for example. If you have difficulty locating the writing center, ask a writing instructor on campus if one exists and what it is called.
At Michigan State University- Shortly after I began working as the Library Instruction Coordinator, I attended a new faculty orientation on campus. This included a faculty resource fair. The Writing Center was represented at the fair and I was able to meet the Director of the Writing Center. I was invited to tour the Writing Center and meet their staff. I accepted this invitation and visited shortly thereafter. I then invited the Writing Center staff to tour the library. They came to the library and learned what was available for students and faculty. These two visits made it possible for each both parties to understand when referrals of students to each other were appropriate. It also allowed each side to make sure up-to-date handouts where available at the other location.
2. Attend presentations by writing center staff- Just like the instruction librarian does, writing center staff gives presentations to faculty and students on campus. For students, these are usually requested by individual instructors. Oftentimes though, they are part of larger seminar series for faculty and staff. When you read announcements for presentations on teaching writing to students or ways of incorporating writing across the curriculum, register and attend them. As an instruction librarian, you should be leaving the library as often as possible to network and get your message out anyway. It is a good bet that writing center staff will be there either as presenters or as members of the audience. Seek them out and speak to them. Let them know that you as a librarian care about writing. Hopefully, they should remember you well from your recent visiting. You will also learn about additional opportunities that may allow you work with the writing center more. (See number three below.)
At Michigan State University- The staff of the MSU Writing Center speak as a part of several campus series. The most important of these is the Lilly Seminar Series on Teaching and Learning. They talk about issues ranging from helping students write better term papers to dealing with plagiarism. Many librarians, not just those from the Library Instruction Unit, attend these and make themselves known to the presenters.
3. Participate in in-depth workshops- If you are fortunate enough to work on a campus where the writing center offers courses or in-depth workshops for faculty and staff, register and attend them. This may be a week or semester long commitment. It is well worth the time to attend. Again, you will get to learn about writing issues that are relevant to you as a teaching librarian. You will also be able to add to the discussion by explaining in class to the teachers and other attendees of the workshop how the library can aid students in the writing process.
At Michigan State University- The MSU Writing Center every year offers a three-week long intensive workshop called the Faculty Writing Project. I was able to attend this several years ago. The group of faculty participating meets Monday through Friday all three weeks from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. The mornings were used for the participants to give presentations on how they used writing in the classroom. I used my morning slot to demonstrate how I as a librarian supported writing on campus and how I helped students write. The afternoons were dedicated to writing in small peer groups. The goal of the Faculty Writing Project was for each workshop participant to have a publishable manuscript that could be submitted to a scholarly journal at the end of the workshop. My manuscript was published in the Journal of Library Administration.
The Faculty Writing Project has been so successful over the years that the "alumni" of the program have clambered for more. This has led to the creation of the Advanced Faculty Writing Project for previous participants. I was asked to speak at the first of these last year. My presentation focused on librarians helping faculty identify plagiarized papers.
4. Co-present with writing center staff- The instruction librarian and the staff of the writing center have a lot in common in helping students with the writing process. This leads to natural collaborations between the two. If you have made yourself known to the writing center, and have been visible and supportive at writing center events, the staff of the writing center should be receptive to overtures to jointly give presentations to faculty or student groups.
At Michigan State University- My presentation at the Advanced Faculty Writing Project led to me being asked to give a presentation with a Writing Center staff member on dealing with student plagiarism for the Lilly Faculty series. This presentation was able to show faculty how two "support" units were actually very useful to the faculty in their dealing with students.
5. Give the writing center space in the library- If you have a supportive administration that is receptive to the idea, give the writing center space in the library to open a satellite branch. Find a few tables in a busy patron area or an office and allow the writing center to have writing tutors in the library. This will be very popular with undergraduate students who get stuck while writing a paper in the library. It may even bring patrons into the library exclusively to make use of this service. With a little cross training, writing tutors will be able to refer students who need assistance with research to the reference desk. And reference librarians can refer patrons who need help with writing to the writing center satellite location in the library.
At Michigan State University- In the Spring Semester of 2000, the MSU Writing Center opened a satellite branch in the Main Library. It operated on a trial basis to see how well it would work. It was overwhelmingly successful and it became a new permanent service of the library in Fall 2000. The Assistant Instruction Librarian is acting as a liaison to the Writing Center on the project.
The writing center is a useful resource on any campus. It is important and needed by many students. The instruction librarian can gain a lot of exposure on campus by getting to know and finding opportunities to work with writing center staff. With a little effort and a willingness to get out of the library and work on campus wide projects, the librarian can really benefit the library by working with a campus writing center.
(Michael Lorenzen is no longer at MSU and can not answer questions on the current status of this project at MSU.)
Copyright (c) 2002, Michael Lorenzen. All rights reserved.
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