Interviewed by Prof. Ian Beilin
Paul Salisbury is Visiting Associate Professor in Marketing and Business Management. He is a strong advocate for library instruction as an essential part of the curriculum for all levels of study in his field. He makes sure to bring all of his classes to the Library for instruction every semester. I asked him some questions about why he believe library instruction is so important for his students.
IB: Please tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been teaching at City Tech? Can you tell us a little about what did you do before coming here?
PS: Thank you. I have been teaching at City Tech for approximately five years. Teaching is “Life 2.0” for me. I am a retired direct marketing/advertising director and data scientist. Most of my career was spent at leading direct advertising agencies or landmark New York organizations: J. Walter Thompson/Direct, Draft/FCB, Digitas, OgilvyOne, Citigroup, Conde Nast, and TIAA/CREF.
IB: Why is the library important to your teaching? What does the library offer to you and to your students?
PS: The City Tech Library is an essential resource for students and faculty. The City Tech Library business databases are a sine qua non element for the research assignments in my elective courses. The students are tasked with finding the target segments (most profitable customer groups) for selected products or services. This is a fundamental, and often challenging, project – especially when students have preconceived notions about the best customers for a particular product or service. The clash between perceptions and reality is part of the educational experience.
Thank you for the business databases. My students learn how to search online both efficiently and effectively. They are overwhelmed by their search efforts using Google.
IB: What abilities do your students come away with from their library instruction sessions?
PS: By the end of the library instruction session, many of the students are beginning a productive search. You are there to help them too. My students value your instruction. I only hear compliments about you, and the reference librarians. You and the reference librarians are available to follow-up as well. This helps the students learn that the library is a resource, and not a task.
IB: Can you describe the value that these abilities have for your students beyond the classroom, and beyond their course of study at City Tech?
PS: The students are used to hearing me talk about the core four infrastructure of skills they need, in addition to specific career skills, for their management careers:
- Reading
- Writing
- Math
- Online Search
Each semester we arrange to have a senior industry executive visit a class. S/he will usually talk about a specific marketing project, (e.g. developing a licensing agreement between Cosmopolitan magazine and a sportswear manufacturer), and general career development issues. One regular topic is about beginning the day checking messages, then doing a search. The search is often for a project, or to maintain our expertise on a particular subject. If we develop a reputation as an expert on a subject, then we are expected to be current on the subject – both special interest material and general interest publications (e.g. The Economist, Fortune, Businessweek, and The New York Times).
IB: Is there anything you’d like to see more in City Tech Library?
PS: I would love to see access to more specialized material (e.g. in data sciences and fashion).
IB: What would you tell a colleague from another department to encourage them to bring their class to the library for an instruction session?
PS: The ability to search online, efficiently and effectively, is a career skill that we all need. The City Tech Library is a marvelous resource for this aspect of our education. The Library faculty and reference librarians are a superb combination of smart and nice – just what our students need. My students and I are here every semester. We do not earn customer loyalty points (lol), but the students always gain so much.
