Description
Book SynopsisLibraries are exploring new roles and new partnerships on college campuses in order to improve students’ experiences and enable learning outside the classroom. But other than faculty members, who are librarians’ potential partners? The student affairs professionals are responsible for everything from residence halls to service learning to career exploration and make up one of the fastest growing groups in higher education - they are the experts in student development and the student experience. However, librarians and student affairs professionals are largely unfamiliar with each other's roles in student learning. By using multiple focus groups, Long describes the experiences and perceptions of librarians and student affairs professionals at several four-year, residential colleges and universities. He identifies ways librarians and student affairs professionals share common values and can approach partnerships successfully – but also the barriers that result when these two groups don’t fully understand each other’s roles in student learning. This book is the perfect road map for librarians and student affairs professionals alike who are seeking partners for campus collaborations.
Trade ReviewLong provides a primer on the work of librarians and student affairs professionals, showing their complementary missions and highlighting possibilities for collaboration. Long’s most valuable contribution is identifying barriers to such partnerships, including those created by the perceptions librarians and student affairs professionals have of one another’s work. -- Melissa Wong, Adjunct Lecturer, School of Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Co-editor, Environments for Student Growth and Development: Libraries and Student Affairs in Collaboration
In this very fine book based on an award-winning dissertation, Dallas Long describes the important possibilities, opportunities, and necessities of collaboration between academic librarians and Student Affairs professionals. Of great significance, we learn that our perceptions of each other frequently get in the way of meaningful collaboration. I highly recommend this book for anyone working in libraries or Student Affairs interested in reaching out to each other in order to make a stronger difference in the lives of our students. -- Dane Ward, Ph.D, Dean of University Libraries, Appalachian State University
Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INTRODUCTION I. OVERLAPPING VALUES II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE III. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY IV. THE LIBRARIANS’ STORIES V. THE STUDENT AFFAIRS’ PROFESSIONAL STORIES VI. THE DIVERGING AND SOMETIMES INTERSECTING WORLDS OF LIBRARIANS AND STUDENT AFFAIRS PROFESSIONALS VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE REFERENCES ABOUT THE AUTHOR INDEX
