Monday, July 14, 2014
In the spring 2013 term, Shannon Gordon, the University of Waterloo Library’s Pharmacy Liaison Librarian, was involved with a first year course at the School of Pharmacy. This marked an exciting new development and was a step forward in the involvement of librarians supporting information literacy in the classroom. Now, during the spring 2014 term, Shannon is co-instructing another course, and the opportunities to bring the Library even closer to students are growing.
Shannon Gordon, Liaison Librarian (Pharmacy), 519-888-4567 x21313
Her role in PHARM 131, Professional Practice Laboratory 1, involved working with course-coordinators Nardine Nakhla and Lisa McLean. Shannon’s role involved introducing students to drug information resources and being available as students applied that knowledge to realistic drug information requests. These requests reflected questions and scenarios commonly encountered by a community pharmacist, and this experience meant that students were able to directly apply their growing drug information knowledge within a realistic, time-pressured lab environment. The experience was successful by expanding students’ drug information knowledge base, and first year students were able to interact with the librarian connected to their discipline.
Currently, Shannon is co-instructing PHARM 155, Introduction to Drug Information Fundamentals, with Dr. Dave Edwards and Kathryn Mercer. Focusing on finding basic medical and drug information and critical appraisal skills, Shannon’s role includes designing and delivering the information-seeking curriculum, assignment creation and of course, marking! This includes an emphasis on how to effectively locate evidence, and explores citation practices, an important issue as integrity plays a key role in academic and clinical settings.
A large advantage that both courses share is that they involve first year students. “My experience of being a librarian ‘inside the classroom’ is that students are left with positive impressions right away and are able to make personal connections with the Library,” Shannon says. There is direct relevance and value presented to the students as the librarian is easily available and approachable in the actual classroom.
As a team, the instructors value making the classroom fun and interactive through hands-on activities, reflective exercises, practical tips, engaging guest speakers, and sometimes candy! Given the knowledge bases of the three instructors, this allows for a collaborative approach and blending of expertise.
Looking forward, there are more potential opportunities for librarians across subject areas to bring information literacy instruction into the classroom.
