Kill the One-Shot: Using a Collaborative Rubric to Liberate the Librarian–Instructor Partnership

Abstract

Subject faculty sometimes limit information literacy when they ask a librarian for “the library talk.” On the librarian’s end, this unimaginative request translates into a traditional one-shot, often focused on point-and-click skills rather than building deeper competencies. The authors developed a collaboration rubric to liberate librarians from this deadlock. The rubric uses nine lenses to focus the librarian-instructor collaboration on relevant sub-categories that display various instruction modes. These lenses include assignment design, the timing of instruction, librarians’ visibility in virtual class spaces, and librarians’ involvement in assessment. The rubric also outlines levels of collaboration, from None to Minimal, Healthy, and Superlative.

Keywords:

• academic libraries
• information literacy
• collaboration
• collaboration rubric
• assignment design
• library instruction