Thursday, May 17, 2012

Embedded Librarian Challenge One: A Workable Proposal

It took several months for me to start a new project: the Embedded Librarian Pilot Project: a pilot program between the library and the College of Nursing. I will be officially embedded in a nursing distance course this summer.  Being given this excellent opportunity was not happening overnight. Getting to this point met with lots of challenges. I will be using this blog to post my thoughts, hopefully, helpful for the-to-be embedded librarian.
Is there a perfect match?

The first challenge was to come up with a workable proposal for both parties involved in the project. When gaps appear between expectations and reality, passion and feasibility, needs and priority, the best way was to set back, rethink, and take a different approach or take another strategy. It will be more likely to be successful if the proposal comes directly from the customer group rather than the librarian himself/herself. The proposal has to state the librarian's primary role in the course focusing on utilizing their expertise such as enhancing student information literacy competencies, library researching skills, information searching, information retrieval, and information management. When you can get to this point, way to go!