Catherine Meals, an Associate Professor and Reference & Assessment Librarian at the University of the District of Columbia, integrates her expertise in personal librarianship, information literacy, and research pedagogy to foster student empowerment and resilience, while advancing collaborative faculty-librarian partnerships to enhance academic success.
Experience
Education
Master of Library and Information Science, University of Maryland Bachelor of Arts, Swarthmore College
Roles
Reference & Assessment Librarian, University of the District of Columbia, 2018-Present Associate Professor, University of the District of Columbia, 2018-Present Library Associate, District of Columbia Public Library, 2015-18 Research Associate, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, 2009-14 Research Analyst, Service Employees International Union, 2004-09
Expertise
Academic libraries Affective aspects of research Critical librarianship Embedded/personal librarianships Information literacy Information literacy instruction Library assessment Open Educational Resources Reference services See also: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2626-0241
Research Focus / Works in Progress
Personal/embedded librarianship; research assignment design; research pedagogy; and affective outcomes in information literacy instruction
Leadership
Washington Research Library Consortium, Sharing Expertise Committee, 2018-Present
Impact
Selected Publications
Meals, C., Kowalski, M., & Rusk F. Where we come in: Faculty research pedagogy and implications for librarian practice. Libraries and the Academy. [In press]
Meals, C. (2022). Resilience in research: Confronting failure in information literacy instruction. In L. Charkoudian, L. Corwin, & J. Heemstra (Eds.), Confronting failure: Approaches to building confidence and resilience in undergraduate researchers. Council on Undergraduate Research.
Meals, C. (2022). Evaluating the impact of personal librarians on academic and affective outcomes. College & Research Libraries, 83(1), 25-44. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.1.25
Kowalski, M., Meals, C., & Rusk, F. (2021). Creating student-centered instructional activities rooted in the Framework. College & Research Libraries News, 82(3), 114-116, 120. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.82.3.114
Selected Presentations
Meals, C. and Rusk, F. (2024). When to call a librarian: Faculty research assignment design and implications for faculty/librarian collaboration. Association of General & Liberal Studies 2024 Constitute, Portland, Oregon.
Kowalski, M., Meals, C., & Rusk, F. (2024). Building research assignments to develop student voices & empower students as scholars. Young Rhetoricians Conference, Virtual.
Recognitions
Institute for Research Design in Librarianship Scholar, 2019
