Presented at LILAC 2018

1. Towards a systematic approach
to international students
Per Eriksson & Peter Igelström
Linköping University Library

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Student services
building,
Campus Valla,
Linköping (to be
finished in 2019)

3. Linköping University (LiU)
• 27,000 students
• 4 campuses in 3 cities
• 4 faculties: Arts and Sciences,
Educational Science, Medicine
and Health, Science and
Engineering
• 31% (1570) of new students are
internationals (2016/17)
• A majority of those are from
European countries (France,
Germany and Spain the ”big
three”)
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4. Project timeline
• Learning and Knowledge course for teaching staff at LiU (Sept 2016-
March 2017)
• Academic writing course (Sept 2016-June 2017)
• Orientation Programme slot + guided tours of the library (Aug-Sept 2017)
• Seminars with library staff (Dec 2017)
• Findings presented at the library director’s council (Jan 2018)
• Policy/guideline assignment regarding international students (Jan 2018-)
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5. Comments from international students at LiU
On library instruction:
• “Some of the search tips were useful, but most of those things were not
really new to me since I have been through a lot of that when I wrote
research reports as part of my PhD-studies”
On previous experiences with academic libraries:
• “I don’t think we have contact librarians or anything like that and I
think most students don’t have any personal contact with librarians in
general”
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6. Comments from international students at LiU
Room for improvement:
• “The copying system [can be improved]. I always need help. The
printing-account is complicated too. The rest is good.”
On differences in ways of learning:
• “Here focus is on reflection rather than memorizing a bunch of facts.
For me, the biggest challenge has been learning how to argue because
it is so much about arguing here. I also noticed that Swedish students
have a greater habit to discuss and twist and turn concepts”
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7. Questions midway…
• What’s the next step?
• ”Best practice” for academic librarians to engage with international
students: What can we learn from the LIS literature?
• How do we make our efforts durable and systematic?
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8. Some answers, but also new questions
• What is an international student?
• Internationalization – what does it mean to libraries?
• How go from single projects to a systematic approach?
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9. Common
activities and
targeted
efforts towards
international
students
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Language and cross-
cultural training
Online guides
& tutorials
Bilingual
information
Pre-
assessment

10. We suspect a connection between:
How we see the group and… where we tend to put
focus in our efforts
International students is as a problematic The international students
user group with specific needs
International students is a permanent Library ”internationalization”
and significant user group among others
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Student ”adjustment”
approach
”Internationalization”
approach
Filling a knowledge gap Librarians language and
communcation skills
Understanding how ”they” think Awareness of differences in library
practice in an international
perspective
Directed outreach activities Library Internationalization strategy

12. Policy, strategic plans
Leadership commitment
Partnerships
Language and cross-cultural
communication training
Outreach
activities
Online guides
University strategies and policies; level of campus
internationalization
Organizational
conditions
User
education
Bilingual
information
Coordination
Resources
Towards an
integrated
approachActivities
Competences

13. Action Plan
Level 1 Library participation in welcoming/orientation programmes
Guided tours
Review & revise guides and information resources
Checklist for educators
Level 2 Include in ongoing UX-projects
Review all signs in the library
Spreading knowledge about this user group among functions
Coordinate efforts in Master’s programmes
Level 3 Library internationalization policy
Coordinator/liaison
Formulate measurable goals
Long term plan for staff language and cross cultural
commmunication skills
Hire international students as library helpers/ambassadors

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Suggested reading
Witt, S.W., Kutner, L., Cooper, L. (2015) Mapping academic library contributions to campus
internationalization, College and Research Libraries, 76 (5), pp. 587-608

15. www.liu.se
per.eriksson@liu.se
peter.igelstrom@liu.se