Embedded Graduate Assistants Collaborations between Library and Nursing Students
Alexandria Brackett, MA, MLIS Student University of Oklahoma [email protected]
“This experience gave me an invaluable opportunity to provide
advanced instruction to the students on database searching. It allowed
me to work with students of different learning styles and learn how to
customize my instruction approach to best fit their individual needs. All
in all, this has been a rewarding project for all parties involved and
should definitely be offered more regularly in the near future.”
--Nha Huynh, SLIS Student & Graduate Assistant
“The experience of assisting my group of nursing students gave me
great insight into how to tailor library instruction methods to the
specific needs of health sciences students. As a result of this
experience, I have an improved understanding of how to more
effectively explain clinical and nursing databases; and, the nursing
students have a better understanding of the amazing resources to be
found in libraries and library professionals."
--Leah Weyand, SLIS Student & Graduate Assistant
Setting
The Schusterman Library
at the University of
Oklahoma-Tulsa campus is
home both to a College of
Nursing and School of
Library and Information
Studies. In the 2014 Spring
Semester, six groups of
nursing students were
assigned a library graduate
assistant as a reference
consultant to their EBP
capstone project.
GA Experience
1. Training on PICO
question development
and Evidence-Based
Practice
2. Training on OVID
Medline
3. Initial meeting with
group of nursing
students and their
adviser to design a plan
for research
4. Periodic meetings or
email communications
with group to provide
additional support
through the duration of
the project
Problem
Library students have
limited classroom and
instructional experience
before their academic
library careers.
Nursing students are
generally unaware of the
databases and resources
available to them, and are
unsure how to find
Evidence-Based Practice
articles.
Rewards & Challenges
The partnership allowed
library graduate assistants
to directly work with a
group of nursing students
from their initial point of
research to the final
project. Graduate
assistants learned the
importance of embedded
librarianship, and had a
unique opportunity to
experience the positive
outcomes and difficulties
librarians face in the
classroom, specifically
clarification of schedules
and expectations.
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