In defense of the dog-and-pony show: Rethinking one-shot instruction in special collections libraries

Abstract

As special collections librarians have become increasingly focused on instruction and active learning there has been a move to more elaborately designed assignments spread over multiple visits to the special collections library. While such activities are undoubtedly rewarding as library experiences, they may not meet the needs of the professors teaching the classes, for whom teaching time is often at a premium. The one-shot session allows the professor more flexibility within the semester, and this calls for librarians to think about how active learning techniques can be implemented in a single session. This article offers some practical solutions to how the librarian can plan one-time visits to the special collections library that center student learning while still making the most of the semester’s instruction time. Ultimately, librarians would do well to make virtue out of the necessity of such single-visit instruction sessions, as their flexibility for professors means that they will be a central part of special collections’ instruction for the foreseeable future.