STEM Chalk Talks: Scientific Information Resource Training for all Librarians

ABSTRACT

To serve diverse patron needs, academic librarians need to be familiar with essential information resources in all disciplines. But many librarians, especially those without a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) background, have little familiarity or comfort with scientific information resources. Recognizing this need, three STEM librarians gave a series of presentations on research in various STEM disciplines that were aimed at providing higher level, just-in-time training, tailored to their institution’s needs, for non-science librarians. This article explores the design, deployment, and assessment of these presentations, in hopes of inspiring other science librarians to help their colleagues overcome their “science-phobia.”

KEYWORDS:

• Continuing education
• non-science librarians
• professional development
• reference

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Mariela Hristova and Shawn Lombardo for each presenting a STEM Chalk Talk and for comments on the draft of this article. She would also like to thank Amanda Nichols Hess for her helpful insights and comments on the draft of this article. Finally, she would like to thank her colleagues at Oakland University Libraries for attending the STEM Chalk Talks and participating in the formative and summative assessments.

Notes

¹ Presentation slides can be found in Oakland University’s institutional repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10323/4665.