Abstract:
This research project sought to determine the opportunities for librarians in
specialist academic libraries to integrate information literacy into faculty curricula.
Information literacy is becoming recognized as increasingly important as a graduate
competency by universities, and is a significant component of lifelong learning. The
ability of librarians to collaborate with academic faculty staff in order to provide
information literacy instruction to students is crucial. The researcher employed a
qualitative methodology for the project, interviewing subject librarians who worked with
faculty from two specialist academic libraries at the University of Auckland. The
theoretical framework of the project was based on the works of Hardesty and Farber,
when considering factors relating to librarian-faculty relationships, and of Owusu-Ansah
and Grafstein, among others, on factors relating to information literacy. Analysis of data
collected yielded results falling within three main areas. Subject librarians within the
specialist academic libraries studied considered themselves to be highly accessible, being
able to be contacted in person very easily by the academics whose subject discipline
resources they administered. They also felt that they were visible, both within the
libraries themselves, and within the wider faculty area within which the libraries were
situated. The ability to employ information literacy components which were tailor-made
for particular courses, grounded within specific subjects facilitated both lecturer and
student buy-in. These three factors contribute to the inclusion which subject librarians in
specialist academic libraries feel within a community involving all members of faculty,
united by geographical location and subject discipline, and which greatly facilitates the
integration of information literacy into curricula.
