2022 NC LIVE Annual Conference

Academic teaching and research librarians are very familiar with traditional research assignments frequently assigned to undergraduate students: select a topic, find scholarly resources, and write a 5-10 page paper on said topic. In recent years, more professors have explored alternative projects (e.g., posters, podcasts, oral histories, etc.) rather than traditional research papers or presentations. These projects still come with guidelines, expectations, and a grading rubric. Moreover, alternative projects may require students to develop new skills or proficiencies and/or become familiar with new tools. Alternative assignments provide a valuable opportunity for teaching librarians to engage students more deeply with concepts and skills related to information literacy, visual literacy, and data literacy. This presentation focuses on the work two academic librarians undertook to support students tasked with creating a particular type of alternative assignment—an infographic.