Librarians in the Lead - A Case for Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration on Assignment Design

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Assignment design offers librarians a key role in improving research assignments and enabling interdisciplinary collaboration, yet it can be difficult for librarians to claim. During the 2016–2017 academic year, three librarians at Utah State University piloted a faculty assignment-design workshop. Using a NILOA-based model, the workshop centered on librarian-facilitated small-group discussions with faculty. The article reports three workshop iterations as an information literacy intervention beyond traditional classroom sessions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Assignment design and librarian impact

Institutional context and collaboration goals

Workshop model and facilitation approach

Structured small-group faculty discussions (charrettes)

Workshop iterations as an intervention

Communications in Information Literacy | Volume 12 | Issue 2 | Article 7 | | --- | --- | | 2018
Librarians in the Lead: A Case for Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration on Assignment Design
Rachel Wishkoski
Utah State University, [rachel.wishkoski@usu.edu](rachel.wishkoski@usu.edu)[ ](rachel.wishkoski@usu.edu)Kacy Lundstrom
Utah State University, [kacy.lundstrom@usu.edu](kacy.lundstrom@usu.edu)[ ](kacy.lundstrom@usu.edu)Erin Davis
Utah State University, [erin.davis@usu.edu](erin.davis@usu.edu)
Let us knowhow access to this document benefits you. Follow this and additional works at: [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit) | | Recommended Citation Wishkoski, R., Lundstrom, K., & Davis, E. (2018). Librarians in the Lead: A Case for Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration on Assignment Design. Communications in Information Literacy, 12 (2), 166-192. [https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.7](https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2018.12.2.7) This Innovative Practice is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communications in Information Literacy by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, [please contact](please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu)[ pdxscholar@pdx.edu](please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu). Wishkoski et al.: Librarians in the Lead 166 COMMUNICATIONS IN INFORMATION LITERACY | VOL. 12, NO. 2, 2018 Librarians in the Lead: A Case for Interdisciplinary Faculty Collaboration on Assignment Design Rachel Wishkoski, Utah State University Kacy Lundstrom, Utah State University Erin Davis, Utah State University Abstract Assignment design provides a potential niche for librarians to fill in improving research assignments and in providing opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration on teaching, but this can be difficult work to claim as librarians. In the 2016-2017 academic year, a team of three librarians at Utah State University, a mid-size research university, piloted an assignment design workshop for faculty. Based on a model developed by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), our workshop’s core component was a structured, librarian-facilitated small group discussion among three to four faculty members from a range of academic departments. Interdisciplinary conversation about teaching research skills thrived in these discussions (called “charrettes”), with librarians uniquely positioned to encourage knowledge sharing in service of student learning and success. This article presents three iterations ofour workshops as a case study in information literacy intervention outside traditional classroom instruction sessions, extending and redefining the role of the academic librarian as a partner in teaching and learning. Keywords: assignment design; faculty collaboration; information literacy Innovative Practice edited by Andrea Baer, Carolyn Gamtso, & Merinda McLure Wishkoski, R., Lundstrom, K., & Davis, E. (2018) . Librarians in the lead: A case for interdisciplinary faculty collaboration on assignment design. Communications in Information Literacy, 12(2), 166-192. Copyright for articles published in Communications in Information Literacy is retained by the author(s). Author(s) also extend to Communications in Information Literacy the right to redistribute this article via other scholarly resources and bibliographic databases. This extension allows the authors'copyrighted content to be included in some databases that are distributed and maintained by for-profit companies. All other rights of redistribution are licensed by Communications in Information Literacy under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BYNC-SA 4 .0) . Wishkoski, Lundstrom, & Davis Librarians in the Lead Published by PDXScholar, 2018 [ ARTICLE ] Communications in Information Literacy, Vol. 12, Iss. 2 [2018], Art. 7

FAQs

What niche does the article argue assignment design creates for librarians?

It argues that assignment design helps librarians improve research assignments and creates opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration on teaching.

How was the workshop piloted at Utah State University?

A team of three librarians piloted an assignment-design workshop for faculty during 2016–2017, using a NILOA-developed model.

What is the article’s focus regarding the role of librarians in teaching?

It presents three iterations of the workshops as a case study for information literacy intervention outside traditional classroom instruction, redefining the librarian as a partner in teaching and learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore