”Vi kommer nog aldrig gå tillbaka helt till hur det var” : Hur den undervisande högskole-/universitetsbibliotekariens roll har förändrats till följd av coronapandemin

Sammanfattning: The outbreak of the corona pandemic has led to various restrictions within society and thus also within higher education. In March of 2020, all teaching at colleges and universities in Sweden became remote. This included library instruction. The aim of this study was to describe the teaching academic librarian’s role due to the corona pandemic and the transition to distance education it has entailed. The study applied Huvila’s terms work role and work task together with Kuhlthau’s levels of instruction as well as a model of emerging roles for academic librarians identified by Vassilakaki and Moniarou-Papaconstantinou as its theoretical framework. A mainly qualitative study was carried out. A questionnaire was sent to teaching academic librarians nationally. This resulted in 61 responses. Data gathered were analysed using conventional content analysis. The study’s results indicate that the role has changed due to changes in how tasks are carried out, for example how the library instruction is carried out, cooperation with faculty, requirements regarding technological competence, the use of digital learning resources and how the students’ needs are highlighted. The study’s results also indicate that this transformation will remain to some extent, and that blended learning will become more common.