Saying no

Thanks for a great discussion at yesterday's Quarterly Instruction Roundtable. I could never capture all those great ideas in a single blog post, but I'll share a few issues that came up, and encourage you to add others that really stuck with you, or resources that you've found useful.

Here's one that I stumbled upon after our discussion, a blog post on saying no from In the Library with a Lead Pipe, a great resource for issues in library instruction. It addresses saying no in a broader scope, but some of the ideas and resources look helpful, such as this book, "The Power of a Positive No".

• There was a lot of discussion of alternatives that librarians can offer to instructors in lieu of the 50-minute one-shot session, such as short online learning modules or tutorials, creating class guides to point students to key resources, or providing a menu of more focused instruction sessions that target specific research competencies.

• Saying no to the 50-minute one-shot can be an opportunity to discuss assessment and invite further collaboration around developing the specific skills that students need to succeed. For example, asking instructors what they're seeing in student work that troubles them might be an entree to work together on assignment design. Or asking to see student work and assess using a rubric that identifies strengths and weaknesses in student skills as a way to target specific needs.

• One recurring challenge was the 50-minute one-shot session that was less than effective (for any number of reasons), which resulted in many one-on-one student consultations later in the quarter. Possible remedies included refocusing the class session to make it more targeted and effective, setting up office hours so that students can't drop in at all times, and scheduling small group consultations to make more efficient use of time.