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Development of Library Teaching in Law Programme Education, Uppsala University
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Qvarnström, Satu |
| Copyright Year | 2013 |
| Abstract | Development of Library Teaching in Law Programme Education, Uppsala University ObjectiveSince 2008 the teaching team at the Law Library has been working to transform information literacy instruction. For a lawyer, learning how to find legal materials is an important professional skill. In recent years more and more material has become accessible electronically. A change has occurred from print material to electronic sources. This poses new challenges for the law librarians. A few years ago Library instruction consisted mostly in telling the students about print material and showing databases, with little student activity. Focus was on the teacher as expert and lecturer and not on the students’ own learning. The result was less motivated students and no clear correlation with the students’ own task. We experienced a need to motivate students and clarify how information searching is related to the topic and thus is a part of legal method and a lawyer’s professional skills.MethodThe change was made in several steps. The online Law subject guide proved to be a useful tool in library instruction. The clicking of databases was reduced. Instead we informed the students in which databases they could find the electronic material, and let them practice seeking information for their paper. More focus was placed on information seeking strategies and on student activity. The printed material was presented as a basis for understanding the structure of legal sources. Goals for the library seminar was formulated and presented to students at the beginning of class. A self-evaluation has made it possible for teaching librarians to monitor our teaching experience for several years in a row.ResultsThe effort to change the library instruction sessions has led to more focus on students’ own activity and learning. Goals for library seminars give structure to the teaching and make it clearer what students can expect. Students get the opportunity to reflect upon their own learning at the end of the session through the formative evaluation. The library seminars are linked directly to students’ specific needs to find information, which increases motivation. The first time the students come to the library, at the beginning of the term, they receive an introduction to the library. During the tour of the library they solve some tasks that the librarian has assigned. Students come back for a library seminar a few weeks later when they have started writing their paper. In this way the teaching session is performed at a time when the students are most motivated to search for information. A degree of progression in information retrieval has thus also been introduced. Focus is now on student activity and problem solving as well as on legal methods and basic information retrieval skills. Students no longer learn only detailed knowledge about the library, databases, books and articles, but also get strategic knowledge about how to find information. Library teaching is more clearly linked to the students’ task. In Spring 2013 further development took place through students’ group-work.Keywords:Academic libraries,library instruction, instructional development, law libraries, evaluation, student activity, online subject guides |
| Starting Page | 152 |
| Ending Page | 152 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ecil2013.ilconf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Qvarnstrom_DevelopmentofLibraryTeaching.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
