Certificate Description
Libraries are always changing. Whether it is updating online collections, providing a new service, or connecting people with information in new ways, change is a constant. Librarians provide specialized expertise in scholarly communications, data management, subject specific research support, and more. For faculty and instructors, keeping up with the libraries is not just beneficial for your research, but for your teaching as well. Introducing students to the tools offered by the library can improve their scholarly output and often save them money. Instructors and teaching assistants new to the university, and those who have been here for years, need to stay abreast of how the library can complement your courses.
The Teaching with the Library certificate of completion is designed for instructors seeking to enhance their teaching through effective utilization of library resources and services. This certificate equips participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to incorporate library collections into course curriculum, improve research learning outcomes, streamline course readings in Blackboard, and support textbook affordability through a deeper understanding of the publishing landscape.
Program Format/Design
Faculty, instructors, and teaching graduate assistants who participate in four (4) or more sessions will earn a certificate of completion. This includes 2 required sessions and 2 electives chosen by the participant (see below). Sessions are 50-75 minutes and may be offered in-person or online, depending on content. Sessions are to be completed in 3 consecutive semesters.
Eligibility
Open to Faculty (Tenured, tenure-track, professional track, and adjunct faculty) and GTAs on the USC Columbia Campus.
Spring 2024 Sessions Schedule
Required Sessions
Improving Research Learning Outcomes with the Library
Thursday, January 25, 2024
1:15 - 2:30 PM
Libraries, Course Materials, & You
Thursday, February 22, 2024
11:40 AM - 12:55 PM
Elective Sessions
Managing Digital Projects in the Classroom
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
10:50 - 11:40 AM
Teaching with Primary Sources
Thursday, March 14, 2024
10:05 - 11:20 AM
Copyright in the Classroom
Monday, March 25, 2024
2:20 - 3:10 PM
Session Descriptions
Required Sessions
Improving Research Learning Outcomes with the Library
Description
Learn to question your assumptions about what students know and explicitly identify the knowledge and skills you want them to acquire when completing library research assignments. [In this session, participants will explore common challenges students face when conducting library research and identify best practices for designing assignments that require or encourage the use of library resources. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about ways in which faculty can partner with librarians to support student success. By creating research assignments with specific learning outcomes that are clear to your students, you can improve the experience for everyone involved.
Format: In Person
Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to:
- Explain barriers that prevent students from moving forward with research assignments
- Identify best practices for designing assignments requiring the use of research resources
- Describe ways in which librarians can partner with faculty and work with students
Libraries, Course Materials, & You
Description
In this introductory workshop, participants will learn how publishing models affect students’ abilities to access affordable course materials and how libraries can acquire learning resources for the classroom. Workshop facilitators will demonstrate how to use the library to provide affordable and equitable access to course materials through e-reserves, purchasing, video streaming, and open educational resources.
Format: In Person
Learning Outcomes
- Understand current course material publishing landscape and how it works within libraries.
- Know the process for using the libraries’ resources & services.
- Recognize the basic concepts of open educational resources (OER), including library services surrounding OER.
Elective Sessions
Teaching Data Literacy Skills Using University Libraries Resources
Description
Data literacy skills are important for college students at all levels and in all disciplines. Would you like to teach your students how to work with data, but are unsure where to start? In this session, participants will learn about resources available from University Libraries that can help teach undergraduates and graduate students how to read, work with, and communicate with data.
Format: Online
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will be able to access data-related library resources using the library’s website.
- Participants will experience navigating data literacy modules within these resources.
- Participants will be able to utilize and share data literacy components in the classroom.
Copyright in the Classroom
Description
You'll feel more comfortable in the classroom when you understand how copyright applies to course materials. Come explore how to use freely available, licensed, and copyrighted materials in instruction and on Blackboard. We’ll discuss the practical applications of fair use and other exceptions and limitations. Finally, we’ll examine how the library can assist you with posting materials for your class.
Format: Online
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will be able to express the meaning of copyright and why copyright is important.
- Participants will be able to apply a copyright decision workflow to make an informed decision about the ability to use resources in the classroom.
Managing Digital Projects in the Classroom
Description
Introduce your students to the integrative environment of digital projects without overwhelming yourself. A digital project assignment can be a web site, database, podcast, or any multimedia platform. This type of assignment can draw students into the class but can be cumbersome for the teacher. Drawing on faculty experiences and twenty years of managing USC Libraries’ Digital Collections, this presentation will help you understand how to set up and manage such an assignment so that you can all enjoy learning and collaborating and not lose sight of the main topic. Learn about the Libraries services so you can take full advantage of them. If this talk piques your interest, the Library offers in depth online, workshops on many of the tools mentioned in this overview.
Format: In Person (bring laptop) 1hour and a half – Talk with some time for platform review
Learning Outcomes
- Gain an understanding of the project management skills needed to incorporate digital projects with classes
- Be able to identify digital project platforms available and their purposes
- Accumulate digital project classroom examples to use as ins
Teaching with Primary Sources
Description
Though scholars understand primary sources as the foundation of original research, in truth, few students are accustomed to reading historical documents and even fewer are familiar with their material forms. Teaching students to both read and see primary sources as historical objects can sometimes be cumbersome. Even so, the intimacy of handling historical material, whatever its medium or genre, helps students feel more connected to the past and the topics discussed in their coursework. As Matthew Kirschenbaum emphasizes, the importance of knowing “how textual things work” better teaches students to “see the text as a social artifact.” This workshop will help faculty learn how to teach students that the topics they discuss in class are products of a specific time and place generated by people that may have had a shared horizon of expectations that is different from our own historical moment.
Format: In Person
This will be a workshop that takes place in the Hollings Library. Faculty will have the opportunity to work with artifacts that align with their own teaching and will be able to workshop ideas with peers across related disciplines and library faculty who specialize in teaching with primary sources.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
- Learn about the various special collections departments at the University of South Carolina Columbia Campus (RBSC, SCL, SCPC, MIRC).
- Learn about opportunities and see examples for incorporating primary source materials into their course work.
- Learn about Digital Collections and how to incorporate these resources into LMS and course work.
- Be able to identify different types of primary source materials across a variety of disciplines.
- Understand best practices for working with primary source materials for undergraduate and graduate students.