Library Miscommunication

It is quite ironic that our readings for this week focused primarily on research instruction and the dialogue between composition instructors and librarians; ironic because tomorrow is when I am taking my students to the library for a tutorial session. As McClure, Baures, Peele, and Phipps all express, there are often numerous frustrations on both sides as to what method of instruction would best serve the needs of students who know damn well that they can just “Google it” and find a wealth of information (though not always the most reliable). I am in total agreement with Peele and Phipps that the two parties (instructor and librarian) should collaborate on assignment ideas for students to facilitate a greater understanding of various databases, resources, and what constitutes a “valid source” on the web, partly because I myself have been subject to many a miscommunication with library staff. For example, last semester I scheduled a library session right after introducing the multi-genre paper to my students and, when explaining the assignment to the librarian via e-mail, he was confused as to what the paper actually entailed. The result was him showing art databases, websites for literary journals, etc. because he thought students needed to research visual or creative genres for a traditional thesis-driven paper not create such genres as the basis for the paper itself. Obviously this miscommunication wasn’t entirely his fault. I certainly could have met with him face-to-face, shown him examples from previous semester, or even pointed him to one of the many shrines to Tom Romano (the “founder” of the multi-genre paper).

One thing that the readings also made me think about was how first-year composition became responsible for introducing students to college-level research…? I don’t want to sound cynical (although I am, always have been, and probably always will be), but it seems like it is our job to foster critical thinking, introduce students to rhetorically understanding various forms of communication, establish an awareness of proper citation and plagiarism, and (oh yeah) help them become better writers. Now we have to be the go-between for the library as well? What are the other fields/disciplines doing with their time and their students? It just makes me think/realize/feel that the majority of colleges and universities really do think of composition as service course, that’s all.