The Elephant in the Room: An Analysis of New Academic Librarian Orientations in Scholarly Library & Information Science Journals (2011-2015)

Abstract

Academic librarian training for new faculty members is an essential yet tedious effort on the part of all stakeholders (trainer and trainee). An analysis of the large gaps in training experiences demonstrate that a variety of training programs exist for new academic librarian’s during their orientation. This poster will serve as a visual representation on how new academic librarian training functions as “the elephant in the room” for experienced librarians and new hires as discussed in major library journals from 2011-2015. The poster will explore questions such as: (1) What constitutes formal vs. informal training programs? (2) To what frequency is library terminology used to describe the new academic librarian training process? (3) What does the literature reveal about a new hires’ perspectives towards their training process? Through the use of graphs and charts, the authors will illustrate trends and gaps in librarian orientations. The goal of this poster is provide all visitors a blueprint to best practices and make recommendations for future new academic librarian orientations. The authors hope this poster initiates a dialogue amongst library science professionals regarding new hires’ orientations; it functions as a progression towards eliminating the elephant in the room.