This semester, I assumed instructional responsibilities for the LIB100 class visits to Special Collections and Archives. During these one-off visits, I sometimes choose different materials to exhibit, while these materials have important historical value to the university, I consistently aim to emphasize the research value.

While working with collections was an opportunity for me to learn about the history of the College, it was somewhat limited since our archival materials are not exclusively focused on the university’s history. My collections work was also great technical experience that provided insight into the structure and management of the university archives and special collections, which makes it easier to answer questions and explain my colleague’s work to students. Our university records consist of hundreds of thousands of files, papers, photographs, and artifacts which come in handy for instruction sessions. The Teaching Collection is comprised of many duplicates of various university publications and photographic materials, so students also get to physically interact with these historical resources.

I feel the generational divide a lot more significantly, so I try to find materials that resonate with students in a variety of ways, or at the very least introduce them to items they might not expect to find here. In this case, I like to highlight some of our manuscript collections, specifically Maya Angelou and Harold T.P. Hayes Collections. Using university athletics materials is also another way to bait their interest. At this point, it’s been 30 years since the men’s basketball team won back-to-back ACC titles, and students will say they had no idea Wake was ever that good, which becomes my cue to wax poetic about TV carts and March Madness and how “you just had to be here.” The sessions are roughly 1 to 1.5 hours, so I try to make them interesting for myself, since there isn’t much dialogue and I am doing most of the talking, but also making it enlightening for them. The historical value of what we have is more readily understood compared to the research value, so highlighting materials that document the student experience on campus is also helpful, so I refer to our copies of the Howler (I’ve heard quite a few students ask, “Do they still make these?”), and the Old Gold & Black (“Where can I find this on campus?”). As enrollment demographics have and will continue to change, I’m also contending with students who have no regional affinity to Winston, the state of North Carolina, or the Southeast in general – so I dig for anything they may not have known but might find useful in knowing.

Library instruction courses, such as LIB100 classes, are highly valuable – as students turn to search engines and AI tools to quickly synthesize and summarize resources, it’s utilizing primary resources that will help address the inevitable information gaps that arise from using such tools. These class visits provide students with the opportunity to view and learn about material culture in a comprehensive way that will hopefully and/or develop a deeper understanding of the past even if they feel disconnected from it.