Instruction in special collections and archives spaces has evolved from the once ubiquitous show-and-tell sessions, but it remains reliant on the one-shot model where classes visit the reading room to work with primary source material in a standalone session. As Nicole Pagowsky points out, "One-shots are transactional; content is requested…

Drawing from Wendy Holliday's use of metaphor to generate exploration around information literacy discourse, we pose some preliminary ideas about mapping a vaccination metaphor onto one-shots. We do so to offer another lens through which to explore the mechanisms and implications of one-shots being viewed as common-sensical and unassailable. Thus,…

If there's one thing you learn today, let it be this: keywords. Not specific keywords but the idea of them. If you whisper the correct keywords into the algorithm, you will achieve relevance. If you don't achieve relevance on the first try (which is super common), imagine you're an academic with a specialization in a super-niche disciplinary area…

This piece examines the parallels between one-shot library instruction and one-off equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) workshops. Library and Information Science/Studies (LIS) as a field problematically frames both information literacy and EDI as add-ons or afterthoughts to the work of library and information workers. This framing tells on…

I am a cis-gendered, white passing, able bodied, biracial settler woman of Sri Lankan and English ancestry. I currently live and work as an uninvited but grateful guest on the traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan Peoples in what is now known as Kelowna, British Columbia. I am also grateful to have been a guest on the traditional territories…

As librarians consider ways to engage students in research, particularly those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), it's increasingly apparent that the transactional nature of the one-shot instructional model is inadequate for fostering thoughtful and critical discussions about information literacy and the scholarly…

Considering all that we know about learning science, design principles, and reflective practice, is the one-shot instruction session an effective mode of knowledge transfer? If we could build information literacy initiatives from the ground up, based on students' prior experience and how they learn, our teaching would not be limited by past…

Recognizing the importance of information literacy in defining the primary focus of library instruction, this paper suggests the potential utility of a complementary principle of information creativity. Employers and educators now increasingly stress creativity's value and teachability; this paper turns to the work of John Dewey to suggest that…

What perceived role do one-shot information literacy sessions play in the professional status of librarianship? In what way is this perception resulting from and contributing to the feminization of instructional labor? How will criticizing and/or changing one-shots disrupt or perpetuate gender and other forms of inequity? All these questions…

In "Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education," Harriet L. Schwartz presents "relationship as a site and source for learning." It is both where the learning takes place and the mechanism through which we teach and learn, making it the "essential driver of teaching and learning."…

While the one-shot model of instruction is the most common model of library instruction, a review of the literature highlights that academic librarians have struggled to identify how and if it is possible to meet curricular needs. This theoretical literature review takes a critical look at the one-shot and argues that this model fails to be the…

Information literacy instruction based on the ACRL "Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education" tends to focus on basic research skills. However, research is not just a skill but also a subject of study. The ACRL "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" opens the door to integrating the…

With the advent of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in 2015, librarians everywhere have tried to adapt their existing information literacy sessions to incorporate the revised concepts. This article discusses how the librarian responsible for a series of four labs in a first-year course reformed the lab content…

This article articulates and defends a student-centered approach to reference and instructional librarianship defined by authentic engagement with students' interests. A review of the history of the construct of authenticity in philosophy, humanistic and existential psychology, and contemporary educational psychology is traced. Connections are…

Librarians designed a biology tutorial not only to address an assignment, but also to make tutorials more accessible to students with various learning styles. The Science Librarian created the content by using aspects of the Information Literacy Standards for Science and Technology/Engineering, an informal survey of biology faculty, and…