ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 1 4 /C&RL News The W ay I See It Research across the curriculum By Steve McKinzie Why we should teach research like we teach writing F or m ost libraries, an d for the vast majority o f librarians, teaching research is a p iece­ meal, truncated affair. W hatever w e call our efforts— bibliographic instruction, inform ation literacy, re se a rc h in stru ctio n , o r w h at h av e y o u — w e d o far too little of it (if w e are g en u ­ inely h o n est w ith ourselves), an d w e d o it in isolation of th e larger concerns of th e curricu­ lum. A persistent m alaise o f ineffectiveness an d confusion lies beneath the general self-congratu­ latory nature o f m uch o f discussions ab o u t o u r professional librarian instruction. It is painfully obvious that w e desperately n eed to reevalu­ ate o u r teaching. N ow m o re th a n ever, w e should begin to dev elo p a com prehensive, far- reaching ap p ro ach to instruction. We should, in effect, teach research like universities and colleges already have b een teaching writing: across an d th roughout the curriculum. O n th e w hole, librarians have m ade solid inroads into the generally inform ation-darkened corridors o f academ e. We have freshm an sem i­ nars w ith research co m p o n en ts, u p p er-lev el courses w ith instruction ab o u t th e library built right into the syllabus, an d regular instructional offerings in 100-level courses in a variety o f disciplines. In broad terms, such instructions have b een enorm ously positive an d genuinely beneficial, a general b o o n to th e republic, a sustained enlightenm ent to its citizens. But let’s b e honest. Much o f this w onderful instruction is also sporadic a n d notoriously in­ effective. We teac h (if w e teach at all) in m ost instances by invitation only. Faculty can request o r refuse it, d ep en d in g o n their fancy, inter­ ests, or biases. T hey can also ignore it com ­ pletely (th e likely situation in m ore institutions that m ost o f us w ould like to admit). And even in th e best o f places w h ere th e library’s instruc­ tional program garnishes th e envy o f colleagues or the praise o f evaluating boards, m ost o f us have to co n ced e that o u r m ost successful ef­ forts rarely eq u ip students to b eco m e effective researchers. T he best students forget m uch of w hat the librarian covers in the o n e-h o u r class dem onstration; o u r instruction is rarely rein­ forced b y the stu d en t’s later ex p erien ce o f ac­ tu a lly lo c a tin g in fo rm a tio n . A n d th e m o s t energetic an d effective librarian can m erely in­ troduce students to o n e o r several aspects of the research process in th e single 50-m inute slot usually allotted to research discussions. Like the old freshm an com position course that w as su p p o se d to teach students everything they n e e d e d to know ab o u t writing, o u r present one-shot BI sessions are su p p o se d to eq u ip stu­ dents to handle all the intricacies of th e infor­ m ation age. Most colleges an d universities have long since th ro w n o u t th e freshm an com posi­ tio n c o u r s e — n o t b e c a u s e s tu d e n ts n e v e r learned anything in such courses, but because they could learn far m ore w ith a m ore co m p re­ hensive approach. “Writing across the curricu­ lu m ” an d “w riting-intensive” courses have re­ p la c e d th e o ld e r is o la te d ty p e o f w ritin g instruction. Such ap p ro ach es tak e seriously the com plicated dim ensions o f writing and the com ­ plexities of learning. The presen t piecem eal, get-it-in-the-fresh- m an-year, one-shot BI instruction deserves a jettisoning similar to that given to the old fresh­ m an com p course. O u r view s ab o u t teaching re s e a rc h (a c o m p lic a te d an d d e lic a te skill) should mirror w hat w e ’ve already learned about teaching writing: that it requires m ore than a single session or a single course. It dem ands intensive, thorough, an d d ed icated application over th e entirety o f a stu d en t’s academ ic ca- (Research cont. on page 417) Steve McKinzie is a librarian at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; e-mail: McKinzie@dickinsn Ju n e 1 9 9 5 /4 1 7 can substantiate statem ents in your cover lette and resume. Supply them w ith an up-to-dat copy of your resum e, copies o f the an n o u n ce ments of positions for w hich you are applying, and th e cover letters you are writing. It is bes to select references w h o can com m ent specifi cally on the required an d desirable aspects o the position. Include y o u r direct supervisor as a refer ence, if possible. It is understandable that thi may no t be com fortable for you at th e onset o the application process, but k eep in m ind tha if you are being seriously considered for a p o sition, a reference from your supervisor m a be required. D. Form atting the d ocum ents. Use a la ser printer if at all possible. It is n o longer n ec essary to get your resum e typeset to m ake i look professionally done. D o n o t try to cram everything into the cover letter an d resum e b using small print an d n arrow margins. The a p p earance o f these docum ents is alm ost as im portant as their content. r e ­ t ­ f ­ s f t ­ y ­ t y ­ ­ Affirmative action provisions It is appropriate not to supply race, age, reli­ gion, marital status, an d o ther inform ation that is not to b e u sed in hiring decisions. Do, how ­ ever, fill ou t any affirmative action forms that are sen t to you a n d subm it them as directed. Most public colleges an d universities particu­ larly encourage w om en, ethnic minorities, dis­ abled persons, an d veterans to apply for their positions. Conclusion All of the areas w e have discussed here a d ­ dress the problem s w e have found w ith appli­ cations w e ’ve received. It is m uch easier to give serious consideration to a clear, well-organized, well-written, com plete dossier than to take the time to sort through a m essy an d poorly p re­ pared one. Y our c h a n c e s o f b e in g c o n sid ­ e re d for a n in terv iew will in c re a se greatly b y tak in g th e a p p lic a tio n p ro c e ss serio u sly a n d tailo rin g y o u r a p p lic a tio n to th e p o s i­ tio n re q u ire m e n ts. (Research cont.from page 414) reer. T here should b e a research dim ension (a genuine an d in-depth explanation o n how to locate and critically evaluate resources) in a host o f classes an d throughout the academ y’s disci­ plines. Such a restructuring o f o u r a p p ro a c h — a com m itm ent to teaching research in m uch the sam e w ay progressive institutions already teach writing—w o u ld n ’t im m ediately bring a radical and revolutionary change. But it could m ean the beginning o f a new w ay o f looking at re­ search a n d research skills in th e totality o f the educational enterprise. At the very least, col­ leges an d universities might add a skilled fa­ miliarity w ith research an d information retrieval to the litany o f com petencies an d skills they require o f their graduates. D eans might begin to scrutinize a departm ental major in light o f its comm itment to quality student research as much as the d ep artm en t’s teaching accom plishm ents or b read th o f course coverage. O utside evalu­ ating boards m ight even start to ask pointed an d p erh ap s em barrassing questions ab o u t the kinds o f steps the institution is taking to equip its students for the information age. And p e r­ haps most im portantly o f all, librarians equipped w ith a m ore com prehensive, holistic vision o f their o w n role in th e educational enterprise could really begin to engage students in the w onders o f scholarly research an d to em pow er students to function in the increasingly com ­ plex, if troublesom e, inform ation era. Like writing, research merits a m ore thor­ ough and com prehensive commitment. Colleges an d universities have to replace their present w ell-intentioned ap p ro ach to research instruc­ tion w ith a sustained, com prehensive vision— o n e that teaches research skills in a variety o f classes an d contexts. For today’s academ ic cli­ mate, the old we-are-there-w henever-you-need- us BI ap proach is just too ineffective an d trun cated. T he im portance o f know ing h o w to tap into the w orld o f information, o f engaging oneself in the w orld o f scholarly conversation, a n d of learning h o w to critically evaluate th e conflict­ ing argum ents an d claims o f varied sources cannot b e overestim ated. And it can ’t b e left to happenstance. Such skills have to b e taught, a n d taught by those w h o kn o w m ost about them. Just as higher education has had the cour­ age to tackle th e problem o f w riting aggres­ sively, colleges a n d universities sho u ld now address th e com ing dem ands o f th e informa­ tion age. It’s tim e w e taught research across a n d throughout th e curriculum.