Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information world

Jay Bhatt; Kevin Drees; Tom Volkening; Carol Brach; Mary Strife; Amy Van Epps; Bruce Neville

doi:10.18260/1-2--19018

The Mentoring Committee of the Engineering Libraries Division has envisioned a number of mentoring scenarios in which new librarians would be encouraged to seek guidance from experienced librarians. These include: diversity, emerging programs, funding and research, innovation and intellectual property and strategic initiatives on campus. Diversity: International student populations are growing at many institutions and minority student scholarships are encouraging more minority students to conduct research in various engineering related research areas.Many times new librarians need guidance on cultural issues related to international students. Minority students sometime come from a totally different background and often from places that did not have information resources they needed. If new librarians are not aware of the background of such students, it will be difficult to provide the type of instructional support they need. Experienced librarians can provide mentoring in those situations. Emerging programs: Emerging technology areas such as bionanotechnology require new librarians to become familiar with their collection, research and instructional needs.New librarians often are coming from a different discipline. When new program areas emerge, they often need a lot of mentoring in terms of collections, research and information needs. Funding and research: As more students are encouraged to apply for funding for research, new librarians will need to become familiar with providing instruction to students on how to find funding opportunities. Innovation and Intellectual property: More than ever before, university mandates are encouraging students and faculty to engage in creative activities which result in intellectual properties such as patents that can be licensed to create viable commercial products. New librarians need more guidance and mentoring in this area to meet the growing needs of students and faculty engaged in these activities in the years to come. Strategic initiatives: Most universities and institutions now have well defined strategic goals in their mission statements. Libraries and individual librarians need to be able to match their own goals and objectives to those of the University. New librarians will need support from experienced librarians to do this effectively. It is likely that all librarians will benefit from this interaction and dialog to keep current with new developments in the field. In the process, they will be able to engage in mutually beneficial learning environments. Many universities face situations where their administration has changed. This may result in future changing of strategic plans and directions. If a new librarian happens to join a university at this time, he or she will need guidance and assistance on how to match his/her annual goals with the University’s and the Library’s strategic directions. Experienced librarians will be able to guide the new librarians in this type of situation. Normally, support for such a situation comes from someone within the organization but having a conversation with experts can shade some light on some areas.In this paper, these scenarios are discussed and some directions are highlighted that will provide guidance and tips for new librarians. It is envisioned that engaging conversations, dialog and interactions after the presentation will generate ideas that will help the Mentoring Committee develop new strategies for future activities.

Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information world

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Mentoring Scenarios in a changing information world

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