By developing collaborative relationships between librarians and faculty, we ensure the sustainability of instruction programs and create unique opportunities for sequenced instruction. This collaboration cultivates ongoing relationships with students and improved learning outcomes.

1. Community Gardening:
Librarian-Faculty Instruction Partnerships
to Cultivate Scholars Across A Major
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#ACRL2015EnglishGarden

2. #ACRL2015EnglishGarden
Julie Arensdorf Reference & Outreach Librarian
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Heidi Pettitt Special Collections & Technical Services Librarian
Loras College
Erin VanLaningham Assoc. Professor of English, Dir. of Honors Program
Loras College
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3. Prepping the Landscape
• Research on embedded IL instruction
• Institutional support
• Outreach to faculty
(Bowler & Street, 2008; Cooke & Rosenthall, 2011; Wong & Cmor, 2011)

4. Information Literacy Learning Objectives
• Online tutorial
• First-year seminar
• First-year writing course
• Upper-level courses

5. Upper-level Learning Objectives
ENG 210 - Introduction to Literary Studies
ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context - January Term
ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
ENG 490 - Capstone Senior Course

6. Upper-level Learning Objectives
ENG 210 - Introduction to Literary Studies
• Discussion of how research differs by discipline within the context of course subject area
• How to find controlled vocabulary for discipline/topic (database thesaurus, Wikipedia,
reference sources)
• Revising searches based on results—analyzing and actively responding to results (e.g.
sorting search results, relevancy ranking)
• Citation by discipline (briefly), and available citation tools, including related Research
Guides
ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context - January Term
ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
ENG 490 - Capstone Senior Course

7. Upper-level Learning Objectives
ENG 210 - Introduction to Literary Studies
ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context - January Term
• Difference between primary and secondary sources, and how to find primary sources
within discipline
• How to evaluate primary sources based on audience, accuracy, bias, credibility, date of
creation in relation to subject addressed, and relevance
ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
ENG 490 - Capstone Senior Course

8. Upper-level Learning Objectives
ENG 210 - Introduction to Literary Studies
ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context - January Term
ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
• Difference between primary and secondary sources, and how to find primary sources
within discipline
• How to evaluate primary sources based on audience, accuracy, bias, credibility, date of
creation in relation to subject addressed, and relevance
• How to find different kinds of information (e.g. data, statistics, maps, primary
documents, government documents) in a particular discipline
ENG 490 - Capstone Senior Course

9. Upper-level Learning Objectives
ENG 210 - Introduction to Literary Studies
ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context - January Term
ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
ENG 490 - Capstone Senior Course
• How to organize/plan research
• Revising research topic based on information/materials found and own developing
understanding, acknowledging the evolving nature of the research process
• How to find controlled vocabulary for discipline/topic (database thesaurus, Wikipedia,
reference sources)

10. English Major Course Sequence
• ENG 210 - Introductory Course
• ENG 275 - Bleak House January Term
• ENG 342 - Victorian Novel
• ENG 490 - Capstone Course

11. ENG 210
• Foundational course for majors
• Course learning outcomes:
• Learning how to find and use resources,
most specifically related to information
literacy and research…
• Assignments: 3 analysis papers

12. Included in the Syllabus
Communicating IL objectives to students

13. ENG 210
Essay #1
• Formatting citations, using evidence
Essay #2:
• Mapping scholarly conversations, citation management
• Database search strategies
Essay #3
• Using a theoretical lens to find articles
• Reading scholarly articles, annotated bibs, finding known sources
Information Literacy
Instruction Activities:

14. Reading Scholarly Articles
Which parts would you consider
when establishing:
• Relevance
• Quality
• Understanding
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15. ENG 210 – Course Evals
“I really liked how we did a lot of
stuff with Julie. It was really helpful
and so was the mapping. That
would have been useful for other
classes last semester! I liked how
everything was in steps.”

16. ENG 210 – Course Evals
felt that “Learning how to find and use
resources for answering questions or solving
problems” was “essential” to the course
88%

17. ENG 210 – Course Evals
thought that the class “encouraged students
to use multiple resources (e.g. data banks, library
holdings, outside experts) to improve understanding,”
and was a “strength to retain” in the course
94%

18. ENG 210 - Special Collections Session
• Exploring how format affects the way a text
is read/received
• Research prompt
• Feedback

19. ENG 210 - Responses
Instead of citing a website about books in the
1500s, you could cite an actual book from the
1500s instead. They could be great primary
sources and they offer a new and credible
source of research”
“ I think these books
offer unique avenues
because they offer a
different type of source
than we are used to.

20. ENG 210 - Responses
“I loved just holding the books and
imagining myself in the time period of
the original owner,
and picturing what
my experience
with that book
would have
been like.”

21. ENG 210 - Responses
“Being able to see them up close was not
only an educational experience (seeing
the different publishing,
grammatical and
syntax styles)
but it was also
simply fun!“

22. ENG 275 Bleak House in Context
• 3-week, immersive class
• Students creating
content

23. ENG 275 - Bleak House in Context

24. ENG 275 – Bleak House in Context
Best Teaching Practices
Conference, April 2013:
“Adventures in the Rare Books
Room: Charles Dickens’
Bleak House In Serial”

25. • Using primary and secondary sources
• Response paper
• Research paper using primary
& secondary sources
ENG 342 Victorian Novels

26. ENG 342 – Victorian Novels
Research project topics:
• Harper’s: Fashion and Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford
• Household Words: Opium Use and
Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone
• Newgate Calendar: Crime within Families
and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

27. Your Turn
Come up with a research topic
based on your handout and
tweet it along with the tag:
#ACRL2015EnglishGarden

28. Course Objective:
• Revise & expand previously written essay
Library Instruction:
• Mapping the scholarly conversation
• Annotated bibliographies
• After graduation
• Future: Literary influences, special collections
ENG 490 Senior Capstone

29. Course Objective:
• Revise & expand
previously written
essay
ENG 490 Senior Capstone

30. Sustainability
• Learning objectives
• Documentation
• Mini-lessons
• Built-in to syllabus

31. Lessons Learned
• Prep the landscape
• Keep the big picture in mind
• Scaffold skills
• Build on success
• Pick the usual suspects

32. 32
Jane Loudon (1807-1858). http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/
node/7448 Wikimedia Commons.
Ehret magnolia. National Museum Wales on Flickr: https://
www.flickr.com/photos/museumwales/2217992183/
Arum maculatum (Lords and Ladies) from Flora Londinensis
(1777-1787) published by William Curtis. Hand-coloured
engraving: 46cm x 31.5cm. National Museum Wales on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/museumwales/2218785488/
Tulipa gesneriana from Temple of Flora 1799 by Robert Thornton. Hand-
coloured engraving: 57cm x 46cm. National Museum Wales on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/museumwales/2218785408/
"Syzygium aromaticum - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-030" by
Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen. http://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syzygium_aromaticum_-_K
%C3%B6hler%E2%80%93s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-030.jpg
Wikimedia Commons.
Acknowledgements
The aesthetics of this presentation were borrowed heavily
from the American Players Theatre Book of Summer 2015,
created by Planet Propaganda in Madison, WI.
http://planetpropaganda.com/

33. Recommended Reading
Bowler, M. & Street, K. (2008). Investigating the efficacy of embedment:
Experiments in information literacy integration. Reference Services Review,
36(4), 438-449.
Brooman-Jones, S. Cunningham, G. & Hanna, L. (2011). Journal of Academic
Language & Learning, 5(2), A1-A13.
Cooke, R. & Rosenthal, D. (2011). Students use more books after library instruction:
An analysis of undergraduate paper citations. College & Research Libraries,
72(4), 332-343.
Kesselman, M. A. & Watstein, S. B. (2009). Creating opportunities: Embedded
librarians. Journal of Library Administration, 49(3), 383-400.
Wong, S. H. R. & Cmor, D. (2011). Measuring association between library
instruction and graduation GPA. College & Research Libraries, 72(5), 464-473.

34. Thank you!
#ACRL2015EnglishGarden
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