LMU Librarians' Guide to Liaison Work

The Library Liaison Program is a conduit between departmental faculty and functional areas of the library, designed to facilitate communication and foster collaboration between the library and the LMU community.

As primary point of contact between the department and the library, the liaison works closely with the department’s Faculty Library Representative (FLR). The FLR is a faculty member appointed by the department chair to serve as point person within the department on library issues.

Communication among liaisons and faculty will be both formal and informal. Methods, content, amount and frequency of communication will vary depending on the subject discipline and faculty needs. While periodic prompts for communication will come through the Collection Development Librarian or other functional areas in the library, each liaison is encouraged to independently identify means and modes of exchanging information with faculty in their respective departments.

1. Work with the FLR and/or the department chair to identify the most effective means of communication for departmental faculty, and through these avenues keep faculty informed about library collections and services, particularly new programs, resources, and procedures.

2. Maintain regular engagement with the department and through both email and periodic in-person communication strive to build and maintain a productive relationship between the library and the department.

3. Represent the library as a liaison at New Faculty Orientation, FLR outreach programs, and other university programs where departmental library outreach may be appropriate.

4. Support functional leads in the library for projects that require outreach and collaborative work between the library and the faculty (e.g. curriculum mapping, collection development policies, journal review projects.)

5. Serve as a conduit between your faculty and all functional areas of the library. Although each liaison is not expected to fulfill all requests that come through their FLR or departmental faculty, they should be prepared to promptly and accurately respond and refer faculty to the appropriate librarian or department to meet their need(s).

6. Annually review intellectual content for subject area LibGuide(s) to match existing resources and tools with current student and faculty needs, in consultation with Reference & Instruction as needed.

The liaison program is based on human relationships with the understanding that what “works” for one liaison/FLR might not work for another. Liaisons are expected to use their best judgment in developing and maintaining a relationship with the FLR and the departmental faculty. Not all liaisons will undertake all of the following in a given academic year, and liaisons may also do work under their liaison role that is not reflected below. Much of the information gathering suggested below will also support the selector role that each liaison has.

• Share library communication that comes through the liaison program or other areas of the library with your department(s) in a timely manner. The opposite is also helpful; librarians should share information related to faculty or academic departments outside of their own liaison areas with each other internally.
• Subscribe to departmental newsletters, social media feeds, or other means of keeping tabs on what is going on in your department.
• Offer to take your FLR to coffee or lunch once each academic year. (Note that liaisons may charge up to $35/year on their T&E card for each department for this type of outreach.)
• Try to arrange a visit to a department meeting every one or two years. Agenda of the meeting will TBD depending on faculty’s interests & needs at the time. Liaisons are encouraged to invite the Collection Development Librarian or lead for another functional area of the library to the meeting if support is desired.
• Develop familiarity with major library resources within given subject area(s).
• Keep current with library electronic resource purchases relevant to your subject area(s) and make sure department faculty are also aware of these resources.
• Make efforts to become knowledgeable of the subject matter and nature of the teaching and research conducted by the faculty in your liaison area(s), particularly with regard to changes in teaching and scholarly communication within the discipline.
• Maintain awareness of new faculty areas of expertise and/or new programs coming out of your liaison area(s); share this information with Acquisitions & Collection Development.
• Strive to remain a positive advocate for your liaison area(s) by maintaining a cordial working relationship with the FLR and departmental faculty. If challenging situations arise, seek out support from library managers or administrators.
• In collaboration with the Associate Dean and the Collection Development Librarian, provide support for data or narratives needed for departmental accreditation documentation, site visits, grant-writing, or other similar projects where a library component is required.
• Be a resource for and solicit information about faculty needs regarding issues such as information literacy, scholarly communication, open access, institutional repositories, digital and special collections.
• Through Pods, Librarians’ Meetings, webinars, or other venues, participate in discussions or activities that can foster professional development of liaison skills.
• Seek out opportunities to learn more about how faculty and students in your liaison area(s) make use of the library and its resources. (Examples include Undergraduate Research Symposium, Library Research Awards receptions, faculty speaker series, etc.)
• Consult with Reference & Instruction to identify the types of questions or assignments that they experience with students in your discipline at the Information Desk or through consultations.