The Evolving Model

1960
Faculty member comes to library. Says to librarian, I am teaching History 250 this semester. Here is a list of the materials I would like put on reserve.

1970-1980 Faculty member comes to library, says I am teaching History 250 this semester. Here is a list of materials I would like to put on reserve. The students will be writing a research paper. Could you do a workshop for them that will help them get started? Librarian may ask faculty member for more specifics about what she would like to students to know about research. Librarian does a one hour workshop in the library and gives the students a handout of resources.

Early 1990 Faculty member comes to library. Says I am teaching History 250 this semester. Here is the reserves list. Could you do a workshop? I also want the students to learn word processing. Librarian collaborates with someone from IT

Late 1990. Teaching 250 again. Want the reserves to be in electronic format. Want the students to work together to prepare a cd about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the milieu in which it was created. Goes to librarians, but forgets the IT people. Students show up in the labs. Instructional Technologists do not know they are coming. Chaos. Students in tears. Librarians and IT people meet with faculty member to smooth things out and better coordinate the work.

The present day:

Faculty member has moved past cd’s and wants students to learn to create historical documents on the web. In planning the course, he meets with the librarian and instructional technologist to help select resources, tools and determine approach. Together they choose to use the college archives, the web, and GIS. Before, during and after the class, the group works together. They add student assistants from the class and from the library/it units as needed. The librarian and the instructional technologist are granted access to the faculty member’s course web pages so that they can add materials as needed.

The Historical Atlas Project