Building more bonds and widening our reach: strategic expansion of chemical information skills instruction for undergraduates using the online environment

Abstract

The Chemistry librarian at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis worked closely with the Department of Chemistry over many years in developing a library educational curricular plan where chemical information skills instruction was inserted into strategic points of the chemistry undergraduate degree programs. This included library instruction in various courses (first-year intro course, cornerstone, lab courses, and capstone).

Prior to COVID-19, this instruction, was almost entirely provided by the librarian face-to-face. In mid 2020, the pandemic forced the transition completely to the online environment. This presented numerous challenges but led to important opportunities as well. The librarian was not only able to successfully transfer the entire curricular plan to the online environment, but the transition allowed the librarian to increase instructional involvement in places that would not have been feasible in a face-to-face setting. Additionally, during the transition to online teaching, the librarian increased the quality of specific assignments by implementing the Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (TILT) format. This resulted in learning experiences that were clearer in purpose to the students, and more equitable for students to achieve success. The end result was a more robust curricular approach to chemical information skills instruction.