research & writing

My research focuses on teaching within third spaces in academia, examining the ways that important learning occurs outside the traditional classroom setting. Specifically, my work is grounded in my own work as an academic librarian and thus often centers the experiences of librarians. I am also active within the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and thus frequently engage with that in my own research. My specific research interests include:

teaching identity and skill formation for academic librarians and other third-space professionals,
academic librarians' relationships with faculty,
academic librarians' participation in SoTL, and
SoTL communities and their impact on scholarly identity.

My work currently in preparation includes:

a lesson study of effective ways to teach critical information literacy skills to undergraduate students,
a scoping review of librarians' engagement in SoTL as scholars,
a conceptual framework for SoTL authorship,
an interpretive phenomenology of academic librarians' experiences learning to teach,
a qualitative case study of librarian-faculty partnership, and
a narrative literature review of librarians' participation in SoTL broadly.

PhD Research

I successfully defended my PhD dissertation, Teaching Through Connection: Librarians as Colleagues, Partners, and Scholars, in August 2026. This dissertation examines the ways librarians cultivate teaching identity and skills, partnerships between librarians and faculty, and librarians' participation in SoTL. It also connects the experiences of librarians to other third-space academic professionals, workers who operate in the spaces between faculty and staff.

list of publications

Instructional Design for Teaching Information Literacy Online: A Student-Centered Approach

Janna Mattson, David X. Lemmons, Valerie Linsinbigler, and Christopher Lowder

Demand for online classes in higher education is growing. And whether you’re a seasoned library instructor adapting to more online instruction or a new librarian learning about instruction for the first time, you’re probably expected to be equally skilled in both face-to-face and online classrooms.

Instructional Design for Teaching Information Literacy Online: A Student-Centered Approach introduces light-hearted tips and advice with author-curated playlists and practical tips on rapidly designing online instruction. It offers scenarios, learning activities, lesson plan examples, rubrics, worksheets, and more, using the classic instructional design model ADDIE to frame the process and the universal design for learning framework, the community of inquiry model, and asset-based pedagogy to address the social and emotional needs of diverse online learners.

To learn more, head to the ALA Store to check out the page on the book.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Schrum, K., Fleming, L., Grunder, S. V., Harris, T. N., Knight, K., Kreitzer, C., Lemmons, D. X., & McKenna, D. (2026). Cultivating curiosity and community: Teaching and learning in SoTL. SoTL Africa, 1(1), 33-43. https://journal.ashesi.edu.gh/index.php/SA/issue/view/13/23

Kirker, M. J., & Lemmons, D. X. (2025). The librarian teaching self-efficacy scale. Communications in Information Literacy, 19(2), 179-199. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit/vol19/iss2/3

Cruz, L., Grodziak, E., Botnaru, D., Walker, D., Maurer, T. W., Altany, A., Abraham-Settles, B., Amos, M., Bunch-Crump, K., Cook, A., Eisenreich, H., Gregory, D., Howell, M. L., James, I., Landge, S., Lynes, J., Pompey, J., Shapiro, B. L., Smith, A., Thomas, B., … Lemmons, D. X., … Zhang, Y. (2023). The hospitality of the commons: A collaborative reflection on a SoTL conference. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2023.17207

Book Chapters

Schrum, K., Watson, K., & Lemmons, D. X. (2026). Dipping your toe in the water: Building confidence, community, and capability. In I. Meijerman & A. Webb (Eds.), Routes to Change: Strategic Leadership in SoTL. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/routestochange/chapter/4-2/

Lemmons, D. X., Blinstrub, A., Gourlay, K. M., Kirker, M. J., Mattson, J., & Murphy-Lang, A. K. (2024). Best of both worlds: Training for new and experienced instructors. In M. W. Johnson (Ed.), Training library instructors, vol. 2: A guide to training librarians (pp. 307-322). Association of College & Research Libraries.

Lowder, C., Lemmons, D. X., & Blinstrub, A. (2023). Engaging through conversation: Community building for inclusive library instruction. In M. Mallon, J. Nichols, E. Foster, A. Santiago, M. Seale, & R. Brown (Eds.), Exploring inclusive & equitable pedagogies: Creating space for all learners (Vol. 2, pp. 615-626). Association of College & Research Libraries.

Other Publications

Lemmons, D. X. (2024-present). Info Literal [Substack newsletter]. https://infoliteral.substack.com.

Lemmons, D. X. (2025). Coordinator scenario response. In C. Benjes-Small & R. M. Waltz, The new instruction librarian: A workbook for trainers and learners (2nd ed.). American Library Association.

Lemmons, D. X., Anantachai, T., Bell, K., Byrd, J., James, H., Quintana, E., Ventura, G., & Warren, M. (2024). Beyond a land acknowledgement: Taking a first step towards reparative action. Journal of Radical Librarianship, 10, 81-90. https://journal.radicallibrarianship.org/index.php/journal/article/view/115

Lemmons, D. X. (2023). Teaching the History of the Book, edited by Matteo Pangallo and Emily B. Todd [Book review]. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 11. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.11.33

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