Engineering students, designers, studio artists, and other student creators have unique research needs that libraries are well-positioned to meet. They use academic literature to inspire and ground creation, but also seek information from trade literature, patents, technical standards, and how-to manuals. They apply tacit knowledge and need to learn not only how to write within academic discourse but also create objects, designs, and experiences.
 
In four parts, Creators in the Academic Library: Instruction and Outreach explores how to teach specifically for creator research, motivate learning, and deepen students’ understanding of their own practice.

• Technology, Tools, and Techniques for Creation
• Inspiring Creativity through Research
• Creator’s Unique Information Needs
• Grounding Creation in Research 

Chapters are grouped by learning objectives rather than discipline to highlight the throughlines that unite creators regardless of their field. They include methods for researching creative technology, tools, and techniques in different settings and disciplines; how to research for inspiration; adapting our tools and teaching to the unique information-seeking behaviors of creator disciplines; and how these skills can be transferred to students’ future careers. Creators in the Academic Library offers learning strategies and objectives that can help you teach all manner of creators.
 

Collaboration is not only a lifeline for small and mid-size academic libraries, it is also their lifeblood.
—From the Foreword by Peter Felten and Joan D. Ruelle

Small to mid-size academic libraries often operate with reduced staffing, smaller budgets, and competing priorities. These limitations reduce the resources that can be allocated to programming and outreach efforts.
 
The Small to Midsize Academic Library: Collaborations and Outreach captures how academic library workers at these institutions are providing engagement and outreach opportunities for students by partnering with other entities across their campuses. In three parts, chapters provide easy-to-implement ideas and strategies for course, campus, and community outreach.

• Part 1: Collaborations
  • Cross-Campus Initiatives
  • External Collaborations
• Part 2: Academic Success Initiatives
  • Writing and Composition
  • Orientation and Programming
• Part 3: Evolving Roles of Libraries in Student Success
  • Student Wellness
  • Emerging Roles for Librarians 

Increased student engagement with cocurricular library and cross-departmental activities can lead to higher student retention and persistence rates. Academic libraries have an important role to play in providing these opportunities, and Collaborations and Outreach provides effective practices for supporting student success.