Reference Point

Leslie Hildebrandt, left, and Robin Sabo Internal outreach Libraries actively increasing librarians��� roles in classroom Leslie Hildebrandt pulls a chair up to the table in a classroom where she teaches a dietetics class. The professor in CMU���s Human Environmental Studies Department is preparing to meet with an academic colleague to discuss curriculum-related resources. But Hildebrandt���s colleague isn���t a professor within her department. She���s a reference librarian and library faculty member ��� Robin Sabo ��� who has helped enhance the dietetics curriculum and research guides available to students, faculty and alumni through CMU Libraries. ���Without Robin���s expertise as a librarian, we couldn���t do all that we do,��� Hildebrandt says of Sabo���s impact on CMU���s dietetics program, which is one of the largest such programs in Michigan. Sabo���s involvement with faculty and programs within her subject areas, including dietetics and programs within The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, is consistent with a nationwide trend to further embed reference librarians into the classroom. According to a January 2013 Inside Higher Ed online article, the American Association 4 of University Professors recently updated guidelines to reflect librarians��� changing roles as teachers and researchers. Among the guideline recommendations, colleges and universities are encouraged to involve librarians in governance processes, such as curriculum development. Focus strengthens existing connections Reference librarians historically have worked regularly with CMU faculty to ensure library resources complement the course curriculum, Sabo says. But the increases in online and web-based resources are making it more pressing to keep the librarians and faculty even more closely connected. The Libraries also have partnered with colleges to provide reference librarians office space for limited hours within college academic buildings. ���The library used to be more of a book depository where students and faculty stopped in to use the books and journals we had in our collections for research,��� Sabo says. ���With the Internet, more and more research is available online and it can change daily.��� Because of this, reference librarians work to keep in close contact with faculty and continually check reputable resources to ensure the Libraries provide information that best correlates with the classes faculty are teaching and the topics students are researching. Something unique to Sabo in her work as a dietetics program reference librarian is that she is a registered dietitian. Her background, which includes previous positions in various health care and research fields at places such as Riverside Methodist Hospital in Ohio, led to her appointment as the interim didactic program director in dietetics. Such a relationship is helping Sabo approach teaching and learning from both a librarian���s as well as a professor���s perspective. ���Because of this you have more interaction with the faculty, and they���re in turn more comfortable in collaborating,��� she says. ���Each subject librarian has built strong relationships with faculty over time, and as the library is pushing to do more of this, the departments are recognizing the benefits.��� Just ask Hildebrandt, who is quick to cite the number of resources Sabo brought to her attention on which she now is highly dependent for her classes and research. ��

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