Description

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Engineering students, designers, studio artists, and other student creators have unique research needs that libraries are well-positioned to meet. They use academic literature to inspire and ground creation, but also seek information from trade literature, patents, technical standards, and how-to manuals. They apply tacit knowledge and need to learn not only how to write within academic discourse but also create objects, designs, and experiences.

In four parts, Creators in the Academic Library: Instruction and Outreach explores how to teach specifically for creator research, motivate learning, and deepen students’ understanding of their own practice.

• Technology, Tools, and Techniques for Creation
• Inspiring Creativity through Research
• Creator’s Unique Information Needs
• Grounding Creation in Research 

Chapters are grouped by learning objectives rather than discipline to highlight the throughlines that unite creators regardless of their field. They include methods for researching creative technology, tools, and techniques in different settings and disciplines; how to research for inspiration; adapting our tools and teaching to the unique information-seeking behaviors of creator disciplines; and how these skills can be transferred to students’ future careers. Creators in the Academic Library offers learning strategies and objectives that can help you teach all manner of creators.

About the Author

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Alexander C. Watkins is the art and architecture librarian and an associate professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research focuses on methods for critical, engaging, and effective teaching in libraries. He received a bachelor of arts degree in the history of art and anthropology from the University of California Berkeley, and master’s degrees in the history of art and design and library and information science from Pratt Institute.

Rebecca Zuege Kuglitsch is the faculty director and team lead for Branches & Services at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research draws on her experience in science and engineering librarianship. She received her undergraduate degree in history and biology from Knox College, a master’s degree in history from UCLA, and her MLIS from the University of Washington.