About Learning at ZSR

Support for Library Instructors

Because of our emphasis on instruction, and our belief in the importance of helping our students succeed, we empower our Library faculty to be the best instructors they can be. We do this through a number of ways. We offer administrative support through the administration of the program so that instructors don’t need to worry about creating course evaluations, knowing all details about classroom procedures, and scheduling courses and updating the website. This allows our instructors to focus on teaching, content, and pedagogy rather than logistics. We also have an active listserv that allows instructors to share information they find relevant for their own course and update each other easily. The instruction department maintains technology support, both as a sounding board if faculty have questions about incorporating technology into their classes or want help in actually using it. The library offers clickers, blogs, and wikis to anyone who teaches at the university, including librarians.

In addition to this logistical help, the instruction unit offers a template course, textbook, and activity menu to library instructors who wish to have help developing the content and pedagogy of the course. This also gives new instructors something that works "out of the box" so that they can focus on learning about the Wake Forest community and their students rather than having to juggle a new environment, new content, and developing an entire course. Library faculty can also request to have support and can be paired with assistants who wish to be involved with instruction but do not wish to be a primary instructor.

Finally, we offer a series of professional development opportunities for interested Library faculty and actively encourage instructors to share their learning with the Z Smith Reynolds Library and larger library community through writing and presentations. The core support for library instruction is the Teaching Strategies workshop series that meets once a week while classes are in session. We also host occasional book clubs and longer workshops. Information on these topics can also be found on the Teaching Strategies page.

If you are interested in the professional contributions that Z Smith Reynolds Library faculty have made to the library profession regarding their teaching, the instruction unit maintains a page of these writings and presentations.

Administrative Information

• The Library faculty worked together in the Fall of 2011 to develop Learning Outcomes for the library instruction program.
• The current LIB100 Course Schedule is available online.
• Information for ZSR Library Faculty and Staff can be found on the Library Wiki (login required).