Being 'In The Room Where It Happens:' Supporting Information Needs of Students in Experiential Learning Programs

Abstract

As business schools embrace experiential learning, many service units have grown their offerings to better serve students in these programs. An important role needed to support experiential learning programs is to ensure that students have access to information resources needed to address the problem they are asked to solve. This is in stark contrast to the minimal role that libraries and librarians play to support students working through business cases where students typically have all the information needed to work through the problem. On the other hand, students working on experiential learning projects have few pre-packaged sets of business information, leaving them potentially grasping for straws.

With experiential learning projects, students often start off with little background information and might be left to their own to find resources that help solve complicated and narrow problems for their sponsor. Instead of feeling adrift, student teams can connect with librarians to assist them in finding and utilizing information resources that reflect the needs and scope of the project. A number of business schools have created structures and dedicated librarians to support students on these projects. Most importantly, it enables students to focus on the larger issues of the project and gain an appreciation for the value of information resources in business. These embedded librarian programs have a tremendous opportunity to provide both information instruction and support for the students as they work in the field. The value is demonstrated by having the librarians work with students in the 'room where it happens.'

In this presentation, the library directors for UCLA Anderson and Michigan Ross will share information on how their staff support experiential learning at their respective schools. Among the topics to be discussed will include: working with and supporting student teams, balancing work between librarians, communication with student groups, connections to the library post-project, and other topics. Attendees will hear proven ways research support from these two schools’ libraries elevates the quality of deliverables to each team’s client.