Keywords
Universities; Libraries; Students; Student Engagement; Student Representatives; Collections
Description
Student engagement and student voice have become increasingly important in all aspects of university provision, including general and specific quality assurance and performance measurement of services, curriculum design, operational and strategic planning, and the design and continual improvement of facilities and services. Student engagement in university library and information services is no exception and there are increasingly many examples of student engagement initiatives being deployed to inform the planning and development of library services. Academic libraries in the UK have become very proactive in enabling partnerships with students in order that improvements to service design can be identified and discussed and that developments can take place in a collaborative manner. This includes: use of User Experience methods (UX); focus group discussions; interviews with students; student representation on project teams and boards. Student engagement relies on a continual discussion taking place so that students can have a meaningful voice into the development and improvement of all aspects of library service and provision. This paper will briefly review different student engagement methods, which will be followed with a more detailed case study from Goldsmiths, University of London. The case study highlights the benefits that have been realised through an embedded approach to student engagement, as well as lessons learned along the way, with particular focus on a Student Library Representatives project which went far beyond its initial objectives. The intended outcome from the initiative was to be able to engage students in the purchasing and acquisition of print library books, but as the project evolved, new outcomes emerged including those around students gaining employability skills and becoming more involved in diversifying the library collections. This in turn has had a significant influence on a college wide student voice initiative entitled ‘Liberate My Degree’
Liberate my degree: How libraries can help students have influence over their services
Student engagement and student voice have become increasingly important in all aspects of university provision, including general and specific quality assurance and performance measurement of services, curriculum design, operational and strategic planning, and the design and continual improvement of facilities and services. Student engagement in university library and information services is no exception and there are increasingly many examples of student engagement initiatives being deployed to inform the planning and development of library services. Academic libraries in the UK have become very proactive in enabling partnerships with students in order that improvements to service design can be identified and discussed and that developments can take place in a collaborative manner. This includes: use of User Experience methods (UX); focus group discussions; interviews with students; student representation on project teams and boards. Student engagement relies on a continual discussion taking place so that students can have a meaningful voice into the development and improvement of all aspects of library service and provision. This paper will briefly review different student engagement methods, which will be followed with a more detailed case study from Goldsmiths, University of London. The case study highlights the benefits that have been realised through an embedded approach to student engagement, as well as lessons learned along the way, with particular focus on a Student Library Representatives project which went far beyond its initial objectives. The intended outcome from the initiative was to be able to engage students in the purchasing and acquisition of print library books, but as the project evolved, new outcomes emerged including those around students gaining employability skills and becoming more involved in diversifying the library collections. This in turn has had a significant influence on a college wide student voice initiative entitled ‘Liberate My Degree’