Building relationships with STEM faculty and students therefore requires an active outreach approach
rather than simply waiting for individuals to contact librarians.
meeting faculty informally and face-to-face at departmental functions is a key outreach strategy,
and that outreach techniques need to be tailored to fit the local academic community, adapted for departmental variation.
Being visible means creating opportunities for communication by being present where your “customers” (i.e., faculty and students) are located
variety of options for initiating interactions with potential customers
Being relevant requires currency and an understanding of the subject matter of interest to the customer.
keeping current with rapid changes in technology, research directions,
curriculum offerings, and scholarly trends
For student engagement, it means making an effort to connect to their experiences
and interests to add meaning and put learning processes into context.
Being useful means matching resources and information to the purpose (e.g., research, coursework) and needs of the customer
High-quality service also involves anticipating needs and being proactive in providing
services
Faculty are pressed for time, so offering services that can save them time can win their respect and support.
Timeliness means being responsive and prompt in answering questions and scheduling consultations. It also means providing services at
the point of need, timing delivery to when information and services are most needed or effective.
The four elements of proactive customer service—visibility, relevance, usefulness, and timeliness—are interrelated and of
equal importance in the implementation of liaison services.
The liaison concept map is meant to be a starting point for organizing and planning activities that facilitate greater connections
with academic faculty and students.
Becoming an effective liaison librarian in today’s environment involves moving from a role peripheral to academic research
and teaching, to a more integral and integrated presence within departments and programs
Faculty satisfaction with library
liaisons increases when they have recent and direct communication, they know the name of their assigned liaison librarian,
and they receive more types of services.4
Engaging faculty and building long-term relationships can be enhanced by shifting focus to showing interest in their research,
offering newer research services (e.g., data management and repository support), and identifying opportunities for partnership.
While developing relationships with individual faculty members is essential, the process of making initial contacts can be
orchestrated at the departmental level.
Building awareness of library services is a necessary first step
to engagement, as faculty tend not to view librarians as instructors or research consultants
Keeping up with trends and adding to the liaison librarian
toolkit are essential to remaining relevant and effective
concept map for thinking about the various pieces of the liaison librarian role, focusing on visibility, relevance, usefulness, and timeliness. used for conversation with team of librarians to take a higher altitude view of what we're trying to accomplish and then specifically how we go about doing that