Best Practices for Librarians Embedded in Online Courses

Abstract

Academic librarians interested in collaborating with faculty in online courses often express questions about their role, level of involvement, and activities. This article provides a list of best practices to guide those developing embedded librarian services. The practices are drawn from a review of the literature, a case study of one embedded librarian's experiences, and a mixed methods study of embedded librarianship at six institutions. The resulting best practices will help embedded librarians collaborate effectively with faculty to create a positive learning experience for distance students.

KEYWORDS:

• academic librarian
• best practices
• course management software
• distance education
• embedded librarian
• web conferencing