RA in the Academic Library | Reading Connections

At the 2014 Ontario Library Association Superconference in Toronto, we presented the following poster: “Readers’ Advisory in Academic Libraries”. View the poster here.

Poster description from the conference website: “This poster, resulting from student–professor collaboration, presents the teaching methods of Readers’ Advisory (RA) in academia and examples of student work geared toward integrating leisure reading into reference and information literacy practices of academic libraries. RA used to be a common practice in academic libraries in the 1930s–1940s, but then it relocated exclusively to public libraries. In the last 10 years, RA in academia has experienced revival, as educators have become increasingly aware of the importance of non-academic reading for student performance and development. In the last three years, RA in academia has been taught as part of the RA course at the iSchool, University of Toronto.”

Presenters: Keren Dali, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western University; Gwen Fisher, Oakville PL; Jordan Patterson, University of Toronto; Kate Restivo, Toronto PL; Matthew Rohweder, University of Toronto

The following guides were developed by Master of Information Students who took the Readers’ Advisory course with Prof. Keren Dali at the Faculty of Information (2011-2013). Every guide is based on the course syllabi for undergraduate and graduate courses taught at the Faculty of Information and other departments at the U of Toronto or on a chosen academic audience (e.g., Professors and University Administrators). These guides can be downloaded for free and used for non-profit purposes: education and personal leisure reading. If you include some of these readings in your courses, we would be happy to hear from you. We ask that due credit and proper acknowledgements be given to the authors every time their guides are used.

Courses & Guides	Courses & Guides
MSL 2000: Curatorial Practice Created by Melissa Bell Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf MSL2370H: Museums & Cultural Heritage (2 guides) Course Description Created by Meagan Gilpin (download in pdf) Created by Ryan Tegenfeldt (download in pdf)	Reading Guides for University Professors and Administrators Created by Elizabeth Coates Click here for the guide in .pdf
INF2332: Information Behaviour (2 guides) Course Description Created by Erica Rodd (download in pdf) Created by Melissa McLeod (download in pdf)	PSY427: Media Psychology Created by Lindsay McNiff Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf
INF1003: Information Systems, Services, and Design Created by Louise Donnelly Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf INF1343H: Data Modeling & Database Design Created by Cynthia Griffioen Course description Click here for the guide in .pdf	SOC336H1: Immigration and Race Relations in Canada Created by Elizabeth Coates, Rustam Dow, and Karolina Majka Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf
INF 2133: Legal Literature and Librarianship. Created by Teresa Riczu Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf	SOC356Y1: Technology and Society Created by Brendon Foster Course Description (Faculty of Arts & Science 2011-2012 Calendar) Click here for the guide in .pdf
INF 2155H The Public Library in the Community: Developing a Critical Practice Course Description Created by Alexandra Black Sensicle (download in .pdf) Created by Kate Restivo (download in .pdf)	INF1240: Research Methods Created by Marie Belanger Course Description Click here for the guide in .pdf
INF2241H Critical Making: Information Studies, Social Values, and Physical Computing Created by Zarena Cassar Course description Click here for the guide in .pdf	INF2181H Information Policy, Regulation and Law Course description Created by Katie Southon (download in .pdf)
INF1230H Management of Information Organizations Created by Lisa Detta-Colli Course description Click here for the guide in .pdf	INF2221H Digital Divides and Information Professionals: Developing a Critical Practice Course description Created by Nicole Miller (download in .pdf)
INF2175H Managing Organizational Records (2 guides) Course description Created by Lana Alsabbagh (download in .pdf) Created by Gwen Fisher (download in .pdf) INF2180: Archives: Access, Advocacy & Outreach Course description Created by Alexandra Kwan (download in .pdf) Created by Sarah Atkinson (download in .pdf)