Bring your teaching into the library

For many students and teachers, the university library is primarily a place to find books, articles and databases. But the library also contributes to teaching at SDU in other ways. When library staff develop teaching materials and curate exhibitions, these can be used as active elements in teaching.

Several library staff members continuously develop materials that can be used directly in teaching or serve as inspiration. These include LibGuides introducing key academic topics, databases and literature searching, as well as thematic entry points to research and current societal issues. For example:

• Sustainability
  The library’s LibGuide on sustainability brings together literature, databases and resources on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable development. The guide is designed as a resource for teachers and students working with sustainability across disciplines. It is also linked to the fact that the SDU Library is SDG-certified and actively works to highlight research and knowledge on sustainability. For example, during Week 17 - SDG Week - the library will host exhibitions and activities across all SDU campus locations.

The library’s communication and outreach also take more unconventional forms. In recent years, exhibitions have become more numerous, varied and professionalised. For example:

• Getting to know women: Research perspectives on women
  The exhibition Getting to know women explores how fiction and research can be combined to shed light on questions of gender, identity and society. The exhibition has attracted considerable interest and will be shown at multiple campus locations. Parts of the exhibition are also used in connection with Research Day.
  
  The exhibition has also been used in teaching by Professor Sune Vork Steffensen in a course on communication and philosophy of science. Half of the students conducted a hermeneutic analysis and a phenomenological interview, while the other half analyzed - within a philosophy of science framework - how the first group approached their work. The groups then switched roles.
  
  “By incorporating the exhibition, students were able to apply theory in a practical context. The space and the changing exhibitions provide a rich source of empirical material, and it is an advantage that the material is not something I, as the teacher, have provided—this allows for a more exploratory approach. The class developed a strong, theory- and practice-based critical dialogue on cultural representations of the female body presented in the exhibition. As an added benefit, we are always pleased to see students engaging with the physical library,” says Sune Vork Steffensen, Department of Culture and Language.

The exhibition Getting to know women – research perspectives on women can be seen at the library’s main entrance, Campus Odense, until 8 April.

The library’s resources can thus be brought closer to teaching—not only as background material, but as an active part of the learning environment.

“The library’s collections serve many purposes. They are not only something you seek out independently, but can also be integrated directly into teaching and research - as academic material, as inspiration, even as entertainment, or as a framework for dialogue between research, literature and society,” says Library Director Bertil Dorch.