Embedded Librarians: Research Support for Online Students

Kristen Cinar, Ammerman Librarian

Jenny Farquhar, Ammerman Librarian

What is embedded librarianship?

“The establishment of a library presence in a virtual learning space” (Frederiksen and Phelps 3)

Benefits of a library presence

in online courses

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• Levels the playing field by providing equivalent access to resources for students in synchronous and asynchronous courses.
• Enables instructors to devote more time to course content and less time to assisting with research issues
• Enables students to contact a real person for help with research
• Introduces/reinforces information literacy skills

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Best Practices

• Clear communication between librarian and course instructor
• Program level determination of which courses would best benefit from information literacy instruction
• Clear link between research tools and research assignment
• Instruction/resources provided at “point-of-need”
• Incentivize student use of research tools
• Avoid overwhelming students with resources
• Assessment through instructor feedback, student surveys, librarians’ observations, etc.
• Awareness of staffing limitations

Video of Personal Librarian

• Mimics a warm greeting one might receive when experiencing a face-to-face interaction
• Helps students view the librarian as a valuable part of their course and someone they can trust and interact with

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Live Chat

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• Provide remote, real-time reference assistance each hour the library is open
• Email students a transcript of the session to help guide them in the future

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Weekly email messages

• Informative research tips
• Tutorials
• Research goal announcements that correspond with each stage of the course lesson plan
• Invitations or reminders to contact the librarian with research issues as the semester progresses

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Tuesday Tip: Did you know that you can browse our eBook collection by subject?

Librarian moderating group discussion

• Launching research related threads would allow students to receive prompt feedback from the librarian and discussion comments from their classmates
• Librarians could quickly detect and address any shortcomings in student research preparedness
• Students would benefit from project-specific feedback, as opposed to broader library workshop assignments

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LibGuides, Tutorials, Videos, Database Search Widgets etc.

• Course LibGuides
• Interactive tutorials
• Information literacy skills tutorials
• Library reading lists

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Additional Resources

Alverson, Jessica. “Authentic Assessment of Student Learning in an Online Class: Implications for Embedded Practice.” College & Research Libraries, vol. 80, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 32–43. EBSCOhost,

Frederiksen, Linda & Sue Phelps. “Online Embedded Librarians: a Review and Overview.” Virtually Embedded: the Librarian in an Online Environment, edited by Elizabeth Leonard and Erin McCaffre, Association of College & Research Libraries, 2014, pp. 3-15.

The Library and Blackboard LibGuide

Meredith, William and Jessica Mussell. “Amazed, Appreciative, or Ambivalent? Student and Faculty Perceptions of Librarians Embedded in Online Courses.” Internet Reference Services Quarterly, vol.19. No.2, Apr. 2014, pp 89-112

Raish, Victoria. “Librarian Role and Embedded Librarianship.” Library Technology Reports, no.5, 2018, p.24

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