What are Liaison Librarians?

Liaison librarians have been designated as the primary contacts between the Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center and a department or center of Feinberg School of Medicine. The goal of the liaison service is to provide faculty, students, residents, fellows, and staff with the name of at least one person they can call upon as a starting point for assistance with or information about any library service or issue. Liaison librarians foster communication between the library and Feinberg's programs, and understand the information needs of their departments.

Liaison Librarians are:

• Well-informed about the library’s collections, services, policies, and resources, and skilled in interpreting and promoting these to faculty and students in their departments
• Knowledgeable of the subject matter and nature of the teaching and research conducted by the department
• Adept at working together with teaching faculty to ensure that relevant information access skills and tools are incorporated into academic programs

Your liaison librarian will:

• Actively foster communication with the assigned department or center
• Provide education services to inform and teach users in the departments how to use the library’s resources and find information
• Promote library services and resources to the departments and centers
• Inform library users how to access library resources and services
• Be a contact for collection development and requests for resources or services
• Participate in professional development activities to enhance skills and knowledge to support assigned departments

What your liaison librarian can do for your department

Communication

• Produce information guides on new services, collections, and research tools
• Prepare or update subject research Web guides
• Schedule regular on site visits, e.g. office or computer lab hours
• Write a feature or column for your departmental newsletter
• Send information packets to new faculty
• Meet with the Department Head, faculty and staff members to learn about current plans for your department or center and gather feedback on the library services
• Attend departmental meetings or other relevant gatherings
• Serve on a departmental committee
• Assist with departmental or center program, re-accreditation, or grant applications

Orientations, Instructional Sessions, and Demonstrations

• Schedule individual orientation meetings with new faculty
• Schedule library orientation sessions for new residents
• Create, review, and revise orientation or instruction programs
• Demonstrate relevant library resources and services
• Attend departmental events
• Survey and document your faculty research interests

Collection Development

• Create or update a collection development profile for library materials
• Perform a library collection review
• Get feedback on serial and book use and elicit suggestions for purchase
• Assist in evaluating and selecting materials for existing or future collections

Liaison Activities for the Curriculum

• Work with you to insure information literacy is fully incorporated into the your curriculum
• Establish a teaching partnership with a member of your department
• Teach a course or a course component in your department or program
• Establish a research partnership with a member of your department or program
• Develop or help develop a program that promotes active student centered learning