Hello and happy new year, all! The Teaching SIG is organizing and sponsoring a session for the 2021 ARLIS/NA annual conference focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in art information literacy instruction. Though DEI work has always been critical, the events of the past year have clarified the urgency of addressing systemic inequity in our teaching. The ways we teach about finding and using information and understanding art; the subjects we use in our classrooms; and the way we structure our learning experiences can all have a significant impact on our students and our field. The Teaching SIG is seeking speakers who have meaningfully engagedRead More →

Well, the fall semester is finally over! We know that this past fall was a challenge for us all, though not everyone had quite the same experience. With this in mind, the Blog Team sent out a survey to all Teaching SIG members, asking how your fall semester went in your own words. Overall, respondents (15) had a mix of experiences, with some common trends. Let’s explore them a bit together. By your estimate, did your teaching load increase, decrease, or stay the same during the fall 2020 semester? Answers to this question were split pretty evenly, with the majority stating that their instruction largelyRead More →

The "this is fine" dog as a stuffed animal

Hi everyone. How are you? Your blog team is tired, but doing our best. We wanted to take this moment to check in with all of you in the Teaching SIG as this unprecedented (we are also all very tired of that word) semester inches up to a midway point. We talked earlier this year at our virtual meeting about how we were all preparing for instruction in the time of COVID, but now we want to take a moment to see how that’s actually going. We sent out a survey earlier this month, and this is what y’all had to say: What kind ofRead More →

“While systemic racism is unlikely to be dismantled through information literacy instruction, naming the issue systemic racism and its prevalence in the information environment (something the Framework fails to do), providing counterstories in the classroom, and creating a supporting learning community are important antiracist steps that can lead to librarians and students working together to address white supremacy in their universities and beyond.” (Rapchak, 188) Before we begin this month’s blog post, we want to acknowledge both the limits and the possibilities of art library information literacy instruction in impacting systemic racism. As Marcia Rapchak notes in her 2019 article (above), we cannot expect toRead More →

by Anna Boutin-Cooper, Research & Visual Arts Librarian, Franklin & Marshall College The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) defines trauma as “an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.”  With this definition in mind, it’s easy to see how the current national climate — struck between witnessing the glaring inequality of race-based violence and police brutality amidst a global pandemic — can cause trauma in ourselves, our students, ourRead More →

By: Jenna Dufour, Research Librarian for Visual Arts, University of California, Irvine What are Google Sites and Why Use Them?Google Sites are a web page creation tool offered by Google with a goal of allowing anyone to create simple websites that support collaboration between editors. I started to use Google Sites before the days of COVID-19 when I needed to compile resources, links, and information for MFA students looking for grant and residency opportunities. The Art Research Guide did not work for the kind of information architecture I had in mind, so I wanted to try something new! Feedback on the site I created wasRead More →

The Teaching SIG put out a call for best practices for supporting the research needs of faculty and students in a remote environment. Here’s what librarians had to say: 1 – ZOOM FOR ONE-ON-ONE RESEARCH SUPPORT Courtney Baron, Director of the Bridwell Art Library, University of Louisville: “I’ve been using Zoom for one-on-one research consultations. Students sign up for consultations via SpringShare’s LibCal scheduling system, just as they did for in-person consultations. I email them the link to Zoom along with tips on what to expect for a virtual appointment. When students enter the Zoom meeting, I tell them they do not have to beRead More →

by Courtney BaronDirector, Art Library, University of Louisville The COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 led to the rapid movement of higher education to online formats and the closure of academic libraries across the globe. Faculty and librarians specializing in art, architecture, and design disciplines had to rethink how to deliver instruction and support students in a remote environment. Since art and design research still heavily relies on print materials, the closing of art research collections meant faculty and students lost access to many key library resources. The ARLIS/NA listservs have been abuzz with questions, resources, and words of support and encouragement during this difficult time.Read More →