A restructured freshman history course: The evolution of a librarian’s role

Abstract

In 2012 the history department at the University of Oklahoma (OU) received a mandate from the university’s president to overhaul its U.S. history survey courses. Part of the mandate was that only tenured or tenure-track faculty would teach the survey, and though the classes would be large (around 200 students), there would also be required discussion sessions led by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Writing and critical thinking were also to be incorporated. The department decided to fulfill this mandate by reconstructing the survey classes around primary source-based research and looked to other departments on campus, such as the Center for Teaching Excellence, the Expository Writing Program, and the University Libraries, for support. This article describes how the librarian for history has worked with numerous stakeholders to support this ambitious and constantly evolving project, which attempts to bring historical inquiry to the freshman level.