Social media, authentic learning and embedded librarianship:

a case study of dietetics students

Abstract

Recent studies and reports indicate that social media tools have changed the way that people access and disseminate information. Social information, or information that is communicated and made accessible through social media networks and tools, represents a growing collection of information used by consumers, researchers and even healthcare practitioners. Undergraduate students preparing to enter the healthcare field need to understand how to use social information to reach consumers and share scholarship with other healthcare professionals. Using the dietetics curriculum at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA, as a case study, this paper describes how a liaison librarian highlighted particular areas of the curriculum that she could support through information literacy instruction and embedded librarianship. By collaborating with a faculty member and using objectives from both the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology and the Accreditation Council of Education in Nutrition and Dietetics’ 2008 Foundation Knowledge and Competencies-Dietitian Education, she developed an authentic learning experience for students in the programme. Formal and informal assessments indicated that the entire project met a significant need in the dietetics curriculum and successfully engaged students by having them negotiate the social web in an authentic learning environment. This article is based on a paper presented at LILAC 2012.