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DaveJohnstonbelieves that research skillsarekey tohaving
thebest academicexperience.
That’swhyhis teachingmethodsgobeyond theclassroomand
straight to thevirtual book stacksof theLeddyLibrary.
The librarian joined InformationServices in2012asa scholarly
communicationsco-ordinator.He isalso theLeddy liaison to the
philosophyandpsychologydepartments.
Johnstonengages studentsby rememberingwhat he found
usefulwhenhewas in school. Inaddition to the traditional lecture
styleof teaching, hegives students theopportunity toparticipate
and learn for themselves.Hebreaks the students intogroupsand
challenges them tofigureoutwhowill access informationandhow.
“It allows them to think through theprocessand stumble
across the fact that therearea lot of dimensions involved infinding
information.”
Johnston says that hewants students to realize there’smore to
finding information than theymay initially suspect. “Asyoumove
along further into theacademicprocess, it’s important that you’re
actuallyfindingall the informationyouneed, andfinding relevant
andhigh-quality information.”
Hispassionalso lies inmakinguniversity researchavailableon
open-accesswebsiteswhere it iseasilyaccessibleand freeof charge.
InNovember 2012, he led the setupand launchof Scholarship
atUWindsor, awebsite that hosts scholarlyandcreativework
writtenbyUWindsor faculty, staff and students. It allowsauthors
toobtaindetailed informationaboutwhoaccesses theirwork from
around theworld, in real time. Johnston says thebusinessmodel
ischanging frompublishing in subscription journals toopen-access
websites.
“So insteadof having thesesanddissertations sittingonadusty
shelf in thebasement of the libraryor inyourdepartment library,
putting themonline shows that there’sagreat deal of interest and
agreat deal of access.”
Johnston saysoneof thebenefitsof librarianship is in the
flexibilityof theday-to-dayworkflow. “I have researchprojectsand,
if I get tiredof those, I canchangegearsand look tomorepractical
projects related tohowweprovide services in the library.”
Theamount of variety is incredible, he says. “There’salsoa lot
of opportunity to learnanddevelop skills that youmaynot have in
another context.”
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DAVE JOHNSTON, LEDDY LIBRARY
