The LINK - Learning, Innovation, New Knowledge

Will your students benefit from direct access to library collections and in-depth sessions with our research librarians and staff experts? We invite you to apply to teach in The LINK for an entire term. This space, along with the adjacent collaboration area and meeting rooms, enriches learning by providing access to collections, advanced technology, and library expertise. With shelving for course-specific curated collections and movable tables and chairs, students can engage closely with physical materials.

Courses taught in this space aim to achieve the following outcomes:

• A sense of community: Bringing together classes, faculty, collections, and librarians creates a collaborative and enriched learning environment, far beyond the traditional classroom experience.

• Active engagement with resources: Students explore and utilize curated library and data resources, such as print materials, maps, and datasets, including special collections in a hands-on setting. This approach enhances their research skills, sparks curiosity, and deepens appreciation for the wealth of available resources.

• Integrated literacy concepts: Through collaboration with library experts, courses embed key literacy skills—including information, media, digital, and data literacy—throughout the term.

Leverage The LINK to create an interactive and immersive learning experience for your students!

Two to three courses will be selected each term. Library staff, including subject-matter experts, will partner with faculty to curate collections and resources and provide tailored research support to students.

Enrollment: Courses must have no more than 45 students (required).

Library Staff Participation: Library staff must actively participate in classes, offering expertise and teaching research strategies and methodologies (required).

Library Integration: Students are encouraged to engage with specially curated library collections and/or data resources essential to research assignments and projects.

Utilization of Space: Courses maximize the functionality and technical capabilities of the collaboration space, including:

• Use of audio-visual display technology for course delivery.
• Incorporation of Zoom for guest lecturers, speakers, or remote participants.
• Arrangement of movable furniture to support group work and collaborative activities.

Student Engagement: Students work in teams or groups, utilizing the collaboration space during X-hours or other regularly scheduled sessions.

Faculty Office Hours: Faculty are encouraged to hold office hours immediately before or after class in nearby meeting rooms.

Related Activities: Events and programs connected to the course should make effective use of the collaboration and project spaces.

An example of how a course might use the various spaces over a term:

• Weekly class sessions take place in the teaching space.

• Before or after each class, faculty and librarians hold office hours in the nearby meeting rooms.

• During class time, librarians and staff experts conduct a research instruction session, introducing students to essential information materials to support their academic work.

• Librarians or library experts offer an X-hour drop-in session in the adjacent Project Space aligned with a research assignment.

• Student groups utilize the collaboration space for group projects or assignments.

• A guest speaker, either in person or via Zoom, presents in the classroom space.

• The classroom space is scheduled for particular X-hour sessions, allowing students to explore the curated collections.

• The collaboration space is reserved for specific tutoring or study sessions tailored to the class.