Nature or nurture? Case study perspectives on developing a team of passionate instruction librarians at the Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University

• Main Author: MUNOO, Rajendra
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: Information literacy; professional development; academic libraries; Singapore Management University; Asian Studies; Human Resources Management; Information Literacy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/223; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/library_research/article/1228/viewcontent/Nature_or_Nurture_Case_Study_Passionate_Librarians_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Developing and sustaining a team of passionate instruction librarians willing to conduct training and go the extra mile is hard to do, especially with limited resource. Successful instructional programmes depend on teamwork and collaboration especially in academic libraries. In this paper the author who is Head of Instructional Services at the Li Ka Shing Library, Singapore Management University, will share how this has been done with a team of thirteen, each with different levels of skills and competencies. The first part of the paper will cover some of the new ways information literacy programmes are being delivered at the library. Woven within this description are some of the skills needed to teach effectively. The author then discusses the different techniques used to develop the team such as co-training and training coordination meetings as a platform for communication and sharing. A selection of survey data is presented showing how the instruction librarians are evaluated for trainer preparedness and content delivery. This is useful in identifying intervention strategies and professional development opportunities to address the ‘nature or nurture’ question. An overview of the Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment as part of the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications programme is presented in the concluding section of the paper as a possible ‘out-sourced’ training model for the instruction librarians.