Embedded Librarians: Just-In-Time or Just-In-Case? A Research Study

Abstract

Embedded librarians in online courses provide a wealth of service and information to students. Though students indicate that these services are valuable, the librarians providing embedded services frequently note that these projects are very time consuming. This study examines the provision of a less time-intensive model of embedded librarianship and its impact on students’ performance on research-related assignments in their course. A librarian was embedded in four sections of a course for either two weeks or the full semester. Data indicated that there was no significant difference in student performance in any of the sections, which indicates that a limited-duration embedded librarian can be as successful as a full-semester embedded librarian.

KEYWORDS:

• embedded librarians
• online education
• distance learning
• community college