It didn’t take long for Varsha Koushik, the 2021 Provost Fellow for the University Libraries, to observe the unique nature of library instruction.
“It’s very one-off and takes a lot of multitasking,” Koushik explains. “They’re demonstrating five different [databases] in less than 20 minutes. They’re teaching a lecture, or they’re in consultation hours,” Koushik explains. “They have students with all kinds of questions coming to them, and they have to be ready for it all.”
Koushik, a Computer Science PhD candidate, studies how human-computer interaction (HCI) and accessibility can empower people with cognitive disabilities through adaptive educational technologies. She quickly saw an opportunity to draw on this expertise in a productive way.
“It’s one thing to get annoyed at people, like ‘Oh, this isn’t accessible,’ whereas it’s another to explain to people how they can integrate accessibility.”
Koushik worked in consultation with Data Librarian and fellowship mentor Jordan Wrigley, and other librarians to understand the unique nature of library instruction.
The end results are a series of “recipe cards'' for librarians to integrate accessibility as a practice into their pedagogies using strategies for engaging with resources employed in virtual learning contexts.
Data Librarian Jordan Wrigley says these guidelines will be invaluable to teaching librarians.
“Librarians may only have one chance to open the resources of the libraries to students in one-off teaching sessions, making it imperative that the information they offer be as accessible as possible to all learners,” Wrigley said. “When integrated into instruction, Varsha’s ‘recipe cards’ will allow librarians to maximize accessibility in the virtual learning context for learners working with vision, hearing or cognitive disabilities.”
Recipe card for explaining graphs more inclusively/ describing visual information in graphs. (Photo/Varsha Koushik)
Koushik designed both an abbreviated version for the librarian needing a quick checklist to follow and an extended version. These recipes serve as guidelines applicable to librarians’ unique one-off teaching practices and emphasize incorporating accessibility beyond simply checking boxes.
“The goal would be the day where librarians don’t even have to think about the recipes at all. Their teaching is all accessible, and it’s compatible with all access technologies,” said Koushik.
Please join us Tuesday, May 18, at 10 a.m. for Koushik’s presentation. Email Frederick Carey for event access.
The Provost Fellows for the University Libraries program is generously funded by the Provost, the Graduate Teacher Program, the Friends of the Libraries and the Dean of the Graduate School.