Xwi7xwa Library has launched a new Canvas course for students in NITEP, the Indigenous Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education at UBC. Students can self-enrol in the course to access a comprehensive introduction to UBC Library prepared for Indigenous teacher candidates, with five modules that cover topics like library resource searching, citing sources, and using research guides.
“One of our main goals was to establish a connection between the branch and supports for Indigenous teacher candidates specifically,” says Karleen Delaurier-Lyle, Information Services Librarian at Xwi7xwa Library, who led the project, working in collaboration with Alexis Okabe, Indigenous Education Program Advisor at NITEP. “We’ve noticed quite a few of [the students] would come in just looking for basic help around not only research, but library skills, tutorials, and citations.”
Planning for the project started in the summer of 2019, with the intent to create a print resource that could be distributed to students in-person on campus.
“We envisioned being able to be there in person… to break down that intimidation factor that I think a lot of students face with libraries,” says Delaurier-Lyle. “For me, personally, that’s something that I really care about doing with our Indigenous teacher candidates, because they have such a huge role in transforming education for us as a whole.”
But with the switch to remote work due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, everything needed to shift.
“[O]ur students were not able to access Xwi7xwa’s physical space,” says Okabe. “Not being able to ask a friendly face your question meant that UBC Library was nearly inaccessible—until Karleen came up with the brilliant idea to bring accessibility, and friendliness, into the virtual space with this project.”
Delaurier-Lyle kept the project timeline on track and made the decision to put everything online by developing a Canvas course that would be available to all students remotely.
Her project team, which included UBC iSchool students Caroline Halley and Laura Krueger and student librarian Bronwen Mckie, pivoted quickly to build the course and film videos for each module to bring back a version of the face-to-face element.
The UBC Library Training NITEP course is also an important new resource for students at NITEP’s three field centres around British Columbia, currently located in Bella Coola, the Cariboo, and the Okanagan. These field centres, in addition to the urban focus centre on Vancouver campus, provide a unique opportunity for students to complete their first two years of study remotely to remain near their home community before transferring to UBC campus to complete their degree.
“Our field centre students make the trip to Vancouver once every two years on average, and only for a weekend,” says Okabe. “This project allows us to bring Xwi7xwa, and the UBC Library catalogue and information, as far remote as internet capabilities can take us. You can listen to someone explaining citation as if they’re in the same room, even if it’s in the middle of the night.”
With a return to on-campus activity planned for the winter term in September this year, the library training course will continue to fill a vital need. Okabe notes: “As we transition back to in-person, I hope that the resource can still be accessed as it was intended—a way to access the library after dark and still feel as supported as visiting the branch in person.”
Self-enrol for the course on Canvas or check out the Library Guide “Indigenous Education – NITEP” for more information.
This project is part of UBC Library’s strategic direction to engage with communities.
Learn more about our Strategic Framework.
