RUL Scholarly and Professional Activity Committee

Title: Answering the “Why” for College Students: Pedagogical Methods to Connect Professional Development and Gamification Using Library Resources

Presenter: Jonathan Torres

Abstract: When encountering an information literacy session, business students often question the purpose for learning about library resources. Establishing a convincing correlation between classroom objectives and library resources and those resources’ relationship with future work opportunities can be a challenge for subject librarians. Nonetheless, top organizations such as Andreessen Horowitz, Merill Lynch, and Forbes rely heavily on many of the same databases available in and utilized by academic libraries. Therefore, students who have developed skills with these databases, and with information and data literacy more broadly, bring valuable skill sets to the corporate sector. Many organizations rely on candidates to not only have a business degree, but to be familiar with retrieving content from business-focused databases. 

My lightning talk will demonstrate specific pedagogical methods that integrate comprehensive learning strategies through gamification and case studies to encourage the use of scholarly databases as a tool for career-related practices in the business field. Furthermore, I will elaborate on the reoccurring issues that many librarians encounter when teaching information and data literacy sessions. Finally, my presentation will provide innovative strategies that reference and instruction librarians can implement during classroom sessions and use to improve student learning retention.