Skills@Library at the University of Leeds

Presentation for the academic skills support event at Leeds Metropolitan University June 2012, outlining why and how Skills@Library evolved and looking at the services we provide.

1. Skills@Library at the University of Leeds Helen Howard [email protected]

2. [email protected] IL and Academic Skills

3. Why? - Blending Academic and Information Literacies Universities reacting to fees agenda, employer concerns, changing student attitudes: skills acquisition and employability taking a higher priority definition of graduate attributes Association of Graduate Recruiters 2010, p.5 “Employers need graduates who are equipped with a range of core work skills as well as academic ability…these competencies…make graduates employable”

4. Why? - Blending Academic and Information Literacies Universities reacting to fees agenda, employer concerns, changing student attitudes: curricula reviews to make them fit for purpose and unique: innovative, global, broad King’s-Warwick Project 2010, p.9 “the teaching and assessment of student literacies requires greater prioritisation within the curriculum”

5. Why? - Blending Academic and Information Literacies IL is not a discreet set of skills: transferability is vital Skills development is continuous and ongoing Close links and overlaps in content Student-centred with focus on changing needs, esp. in digital environment Head and Eisenberg 2010, p.2 . “the sheer act of just getting started on research assignments and defining a research inquiry was overwhelming for students”

6. Why? - Blending Academic and Information Literacies Embedding of both is critical (working with Faculties) Division can be confusing to staff and students in practical terms Peacock 2011, p.2 “ This blended model allows intelligent connections across the planning, resourcing and implementation of student-facing support, and places the onus for service and support sensemaking on the institution rather than the student.”

7. Curriculum review at Leeds University

8. Changes at Leeds University Library

9. Strategy, Structure & Delivery

10. Academic Skills Strategy Leeds University Library 2010 Academic Skills Strategy http://library.leeds.ac.uk/library-academic-skills-strategy “The aim is that by 2015 all Faculty Team Librarians will be able to deliver the full range of academic skills, with the exception of Maths support. The Skills@Library Team will provide strategic direction and a high level of support to both Faculty Team Librarians and academic staff for this, particularly in the area of learning technologies”

11. What? Academic Skills Strategy Central team leads AS activities FTLs deliver AS in curriculum Work with academic staff and provide support for them IL is part of a broader set of academic skills: “Academic skills are those generic and transferable skills which underpin the learning development of undergraduate and taught postgraduate students in higher education, enabling them to be confident, independent critical thinkers and reflective learners.”

12. Why this approach?

13. Who? - Structure Skills@Library Leeds University Library Organisational Chart

14. Who? - Structure

15. How? – Service delivery: initial steps Involving staff: Involving students:

16. How? – Service delivery case studies Using or adapting generic online resources to support / replace face-to-face teaching Working closely with academic staff to develop a package of support which they help deliver Providing support for staff to deliver academic skills themselves

17. Using generic online resources Library Guide has replaced long face-to-face induction sessions: used nearly 3,000 times in 2 weeks Harvard tutorial used over 10,000 in 5 months!

18. Adapting generic online resources Rethinking support for distance-learners and final year projects / dissertations

19. In-curriculum teaching

20. Support for academic staff Lecturer webpages : generic teaching materials (lesson plans, powerpoints , activities) Used by librarians and academics Workshops ULTA (University Teaching Award) Generic: open to any staff member

21. What next?

22. Questions / comments Helen Howard Skills@Library University of Leeds 0113 3434983 [email protected] http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills @ helhoward

23. References Association of Graduate Recruiters. 2010. Talent, opportunity, prosperity. A manifesto for graduate recruitment : http://www.agr.org.uk/Content/AGR-A-manifesto-for-graduaterecruitment Head, A. J. and Eisenberg, M.B. 2010. Truth be told: how college students evaluate and use information in the digital age. Project information literacy progress report: http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010_Survey_FullReport1.pdf Howard, H. 2012. Looking to the future: Developing an academic skills strategy to ensure information literacy thrives in a changing higher education world. Journal of information literacy, 6(1), pp. 72-81. http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/LLC-V6-I1-2012-2 King’s-Warwick Project. 2010. Creating a 21st century curriculum: http://kingslearning.info/kwp/attachments/134_KWP%20-%20Creating%20a%2021st%20Century%20Curriculum%20-%20summary%20report.pdf Peacock, Judith A. (2011) Integrated literacies : every online player wins a prize. In Proceedings of 15th Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Information Online Conference, ALIA, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney, NSW. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/41370/ Thornes , S. L. 2012. Creating an online tutorial to support information literacy and academic skills development. Journal of information literacy, 6(1), pp. 82-95. http://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/ojs/index.php/JIL/article/view/LLC-V6-I1-2012-3