George Tsiakos began in his current role as Head, Law Library in June 2020.
As someone who has completed four degrees at UBC, George Tsiakos is well aware of the role UBC Library plays in ensuring academic success. Now, through his Instruction Librarian position at the Law Library, he is able to help other students achieve their educational goals.
Tsiakos is one of several librarians who form a core group of instructors for the Faculty of Law’s Legal Research and Writing program, which teaches legal research and writing skills to law students. The introduction of these skills is essential to students early on in their legal education – indeed, the Law Society of B.C. has declared such skills part of the ‘core competencies’ for all practicing lawyers. “The instruction team and I appreciate the opportunity to play such an integral role in the training of future lawyers,” says Tsiakos.
Looking to the 2014/15 academic year, Tsiakos plans on transitioning Law 281 into a more blended course experience. A mandatory legal research and writing course, Law 281 provides students with the opportunity to develop a solid foundation of core legal research and writing skills using various resources that can be used to solve legal problems.
“My goal is to ‘flip the classroom’ whereby students will review new content online at home before the class session. This format will enhance experiential learning for students as more class time will be devoted to solving legal problems, and allow for more personalized interaction and guidance,” says Tsiakos. “This transition will also be an important step in fulfilling the Law Library’s long-term goal of transforming Law 281 into a fully online course by the fall of 2015.”
Also looking to 2015, Tsiakos is part of a group planning for the Library’s Centenary Celebrations. “As an employer, UBC has been wonderful and I have had the privilege of working with amazing individuals over the years,” he says. “I am proud to be working at the Law Library and as part of the larger UBC Library family. Working with the planning group is my way of just trying to give back and express my appreciation.”