Megan Oakleaf

Overview

Megan Oakleaf is a Professor in the iSchool at Syracuse University. Megan is the director of the library and information science program at the iSchool and formerly served as the Director of Instructional Quality and the Director of Online Engagement. Her research interests include library assessment, learning analytics, library value and impact, evidence-based decision making, information literacy instruction, and information services.

Megan is the author of The Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report, Academic Library Value: The Impact Starter Kit, Library Integration in Institutional Learning Analytics, and Connecting Libraries and Learning Analytics for Student Success. She has presented at numerous conferences, including ALA, ACRL, AAC&U, ELI, EDUCAUSE, and AALHE National Conferences, ARL Library Assessment Conferences, CNI Meetings, and the IUPUI Assessment Institute. Megan won the 2021 ALA LIRT Librarian Recognition Award, the 2019 ACRL Miriam Dudley Instruction Librarian Award, the 2011 ACRL Ilene Rockman Publication of the Year Award, was named to the LIRT Top 20 Instruction Articles five times, was included on the 2010 Reference Research Review List, earned Best Paper recognition at the 2007 EBLIP conference, and was awarded the 2014 Jeffrey Katzer Teacher of the Year award. She has published articles in JASIST, College & Research Libraries, Journal of Documentation, Communications in Information Literacy, Library Quarterly, the Journal of Academic Librarianship, and Portal, among other journals. Megan was a columnist for the Journal of Academic Librarianship and has served on the editorial boards of College and Research Libraries, Library and Information Science Research, Library Quarterly, and the Journal of Academic Librarianship. She also served on the faculty of the ACRL Immersion Program and was a member of the board of trustees of Manlius Library in Upstate New York.

Previously, Megan was the Librarian for Instruction and Undergraduate Research at North Carolina State University. In this role, she designed, implemented, coordinated, and assessed the library instruction program; she also trained fellow librarians in instructional theory and methods. Megan completed her dissertation entitled, “Assessing Information Literacy Skills: A Rubric Approach,” at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her MLS from Kent State University and also holds a BA in English and Spanish and a BS in English Education and Spanish Education from Miami University. Prior to a career in librarianship, Megan taught language arts and advanced composition in Ohio public schools, grades 8-12.

Research

Megan’s research interests include library value and impact, library assessment, learning analytics, evidence-based decision making, information literacy, library instruction, and reference and information services. For current publications and presentations, please visit www.meganoakleaf.info.

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Teaching

Megan is the professor of record for core courses entitled “Planning, Marketing, and Assessing Library Services” and “Reference and Information Literacy Services.” She also is the professor of record for electives such as “Instructional Strategies for Information Professionals,” “Academic Librarianship,” and “Academic Library Value.”