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Librarians like Alexandra Solodkaya and Diana King collaborate with instructors across UCLA, venturing outside the traditional bricks and mortar library to ensure students are equipped with the tools and resources they need to find, evaluate and validate information.
“Many of my instruction sessions happen outside the Library, in campus classrooms and auditoriums, where I focus on Library resources that are accessible online,” says Solodkaya, who serves as the Rothman Family Food Studies Librarian.
Through tailored workshops and instruction – including a recent information and food literacy cooking session at the UCLA Teaching Kitchen – Solodkaya taught graduate students how to use research tools and evaluate the credibility of information resources related to the many interdisciplinary aspects of food studies. “I hope students can apply some of the critical thinking and evaluation strategies we discussed to areas in their lives outside of academics, to the information that they consume daily,” she says.
Both Solodkaya and King underscore the importance of outreach to instructors, departments and centers in order to expand the Library’s impact on student success. Combined, they typically lead over 100 sessions a year.
King’s areas of focus are the film, performing arts and gender/LGBTQ studies. She often works closely with colleagues across the Library to bring relevant course material to life. A recent collaboration with UCLA Library Special Collections and the UCLA Film & Television Archive Research and Study Center instructed film and media studies students on how to identify and evaluate primary sources.
“This kind of team teaching allows students to think of the Library collections more holistically while allowing students to actually touch and engage with physical items,” says King, adding that “this opportunity enabled students to make connections with historical materials that otherwise might seem abstract.”
The impact of these instruction sessions are often immediate. Solodkaya notes that after guiding students through breaking down research questions into concepts, keywords and searching scholarly databases, “a fourth year student told me that I completely revolutionized his approach to research.”
By stepping into the classroom, King and Solodkaya humanize what may feel like an intimidating process – research – helping students gain confidence in navigating Library resources and services that then hopefully translate into success.
“Having these skills is critical,” says Solodkaya. “Not just academically, but in life.”
