Necessity is the mother of invention.
—English proverb
Librarians have attempted to define the practice of embedded librarianship for quite some time now. In fact, the genesis of embedding academic librarians began in branch libraries, where librarians would help to curate the small collections held by faculty members, which were eventually folded into larger libraries, which then became “branches.” One of the main tenets of embedded librarianship, collaboration, goes back as far as the nineteenth century.1 So precedence, of sorts, has been set. In theory it would seem that the definition would be the easy part; however, it isn’t. There are countless variations wherever embedded librarianship is being practiced and to be sure, the practice is still growing, evolving, changing, and adapting. But I still have not defined it, have I?
The term embedded is one that most people will know from the news media begun at the commencement of Desert Storm, in which news media traveled with military units in order to report from the front lines. Embedded was a perfect way to describe the practice: up close and personal, in and among the fray. There. Involved. Throughout the history of the profession, in one way or another, librarians have often been embedded, but the term was not used until recently.
Because the focus of this book is exclusively classroom embedding, I can say that in this context, and context is important, to be embedded means to be situated within and among those whom one is serving. It is that simple. One-shot instruction, obviously, is not embedding. Partial embedding is a sort of paradox, but it is done. There is no substitute for not being in the classroom when one “embeds.” When working closely with faculty (collaboration) and with students (teaching), it is essential to both share their space and contribute and participate in the classroom.
The word is out—actually, it has been out for quite some time now. The days of one-shot instruction just don’t work anymore. I found this out early on and the literature increasingly seems to support this notion. I became all too aware of the wrong timing of the one-shot, became too conscious of my “one chance” to reach students, and became discouraged at the enormity of the task in comparison to the miniscule amount of time I had to achieve it. In addition, I felt that I was somehow “performing” instead of teaching, always with the thought in the back of my mind that this was my chance. Professors seemed to think that they had done their duty—done right by their students by having a librarian come to class to do “their thing,” whatever, in fact, that “thing” happened to be. I was often asked to come to do a session in any given class even before assignments had been given! The students would stare at me, alternately nod off, particularly in early morning classes, or update their statuses on Facebook while I spoke. I knew the names of none of them and felt, nearly always, that I gave them nothing they would remember, and worse, nothing that I would have the opportunity to build upon.
Embedded librarianship provided an antidote for what I felt to be an increasingly difficult task. If we see the classroom as a laboratory, and we should, we can begin to clearly see the possibilities of what we can accomplish when we are placed there among the very students we aim to serve. Imagine being able to teach and assist an entire class of students who get to know you, and vice versa, as opposed to those who may make their way, by chance, to the reference desk, often at the eleventh hour, for assistance. The difference is stark.
Janet Swan Hill makes the point in her infamous article “Wearing Our Own Clothes: Librarians as Faculty.”2 She writes that the practice of librarianship is applied—that it is an “applied” field. She goes on to say that its laboratory is “the library itself.” I would add (and she would certainly disagree) that by extension, so is the classroom, especially in these days of redefining ourselves within the profession. Things that happen on the edge are exciting—the unique position that librarians have in the classroom sets the stage for innovation, deep involvement, cooperation, collaboration, and assessment. This is difficult, if not impossible, to do in the limited and often random interactions we have not only with students, but with faculty as well.
To extend and further define the meaning of being embedded, one must think in terms of involvement. The librarian who chooses to be embedded becomes involved in the culture in which the class is situated. That may mean that if you are embedded in an English Thesis class as I am, you are making an effort to get to know not just the professor with whom you will be working, but by extension those within the department. You may go to events that they sponsor. You may negotiate office space or an informal sort of outpost within their department. You get the idea. Being embedded does not begin nor end with your actual presence in the classroom, but instead is a more inclusive approach to reaching your target audience, in this case, students, and providing them with instruction, support, and ongoing research instruction throughout the semester and beyond.
• Developing, building, and maintaining relationships, which is a direct path to a true partnership;
• Delivering services in a way that answers the users’ needs in a timely and personalized way with continuity;
• Maintaining a presence in and among the targeted user group;
• Learning, understanding, operating, and providing service within the space of the user; and
• Becoming acquainted with the discipline in which you are embedded.
All in all, there are any number of definitions of embedded librarianship in the literature, including those that are virtual. There are variables dependent upon context, budget, faculty relationships, size of institution, and any other number of factors, though the one constant is a real and abiding commitment to a presence with full participation and follow-through. In this expanded and deepened role, librarians serve as true collaborators with faculty in the learning and research life cycle, based on a proactive and revitalized model of librarianship. But more importantly, librarians are able to reach, build, and maintain relationships with students, which is crucial to all of student learning.
NOTES
1. Kathy Drewes and Nadine Hoffman, “Academic Embedded Librarianship: An Introduction,” Public Services Quarterly 6, no. 2−3 (2010): 75−82.
2. Janet Swan Hill, “Wearing Our Own Clothes: Librarians as Faculty,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 20, no. 2 (May 1994): 71−76.
RESOURCE
Norelli, Barbara P. “Embedded Librarianship, Inside Out.” Public Services Quarterly 6, no. 2−3 (2010): 69−74.