Finding Our Way as “Embedded Librarians”

ABSTRACT

Librarians at the University of Central Missouri were invited to provide research assistance for an online history course delivered through the Blackboard course management system. In consultation with the course instructor, it was decided that we would serve as “embedded librarians,” offering online tutorials on library resources and providing research assistance to students as they worked on a short research paper assignment. Our experiences with the course instructor and with students have provided us with some clear insights into the particular challenges that librarians face in an online course environment.     

Understanding the Role of Instructor Rapport in the College Classroom

ABSTRACT

This study examined the discriminant validity between rapport and immediacy and tested a model using instructor rapport as the mediator between immediacy and learning. Participants (N = 146) completed measures of nonverbal immediacy, instructor rapport, perceived cognitive learning, and anticipated final course grade. Results revealed that immediacy and rapport were two distinct constructs. In testing the model, the enjoyable interaction dimension of instructor rapport mediated the relationship between immediacy and perceived learning but not anticipated final grades. The personal connection dimension of rapport mediated the relationship between immediacy and both perceived learning and anticipated final grade. These results explore the mechanism through which immediacy may lead to cognitive learning.     

Combining History of Medicine and Library Instruction: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Database Searching to Medical Students

Library faculty members at the Health Sciences Library at the LSU Health Shreveport campus offer a database searching class for third-year medical students during their surgery rotation. For a number of years, students completed “ten-minute clinical challenges,” but the instructors decided to replace the clinical challenges with innovative exercises using The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus to emphasize concepts learned. The Surgical Papyrus is an online resource that is part of the National Library of Medicine's “Turning the Pages” digital initiative. In addition, vintage surgical instruments and historic books are displayed in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.     

Making the Familiar Strange: Creative Cultural Storytelling within the Communication Classroom

Courses: Public Speaking, Performance, or other communication classes, integrating performance and/or cultural studies

Objectives: After completing this activity, students will be able to look critically at an everyday experience, creating a story that re-languages this practice performatively. Additionally, students will develop confidence in presentation skills, further enhancing critical thinking and cultural awareness, by learning to creatively engage voice, gesture, and performance through “making the familiar strange” within the communication classroom     

Exploring the Difference Between “Concrete” and “Abstract”

Abstract

This article discusses the results of a study concerning the interactive effects of learning style and computer competency on student satisfaction in library and information science (LIS) distance learning courses. “Concrete” and “abstract” learners react differently to online courses given different technology backgrounds. This study finds a statistically significant relationship between student satisfaction with Web-based courses, the grouping differences of learning style preferences (converging, diverging, assimilating, accommodating), and computer competency (high level and low level). The study concludes that, when students differ with regard to computer competency, there is a difference among learning styles with respect to student satisfaction level.     

The “Easter egg” syllabus: Using hidden content to engage online and blended classroom learners*

Course: Online or mediated communication courses.

Objectives: The purpose of this activity is to provide students with a more engaging way of immersing themselves in the course material through an interactive “Easter egg” syllabus. An Easter egg is an “undocumented function hidden in software?…?[they are] secret ‘goodies’?…?used in video games, movies, TV commercials, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs and every so often in hardware” (PC Magazine [n.d.]. Definition of Easter Egg. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/42295/easter-egg). An Easter egg syllabus is guided by this mediated tradition through its inclusion of hidden embeddable audio and video clips to enhance student understanding of the structure of the class and its overall content, as well as adding a game-like component to student learning. By using the syllabus, students can take a more active role in their own learning and make connections between course concepts and the illustrations found in the Easter egg syllabus.     

Advancing Critical Thinking and Information Literacy Skills in First Year College Students

ABSTRACT

This article provides a case study of recent curriculum development in a freshman skills program which integrates critical thinking and English composition as linked courses at Gonzaga University. Known as “thought and expression” courses, this block of courses, which also includes speech communication, can be taken by students separately or in a linked cohort with the same twenty students in each class. In linked courses, faculty are generally aware of each others' course topics and assignments, and they meet to discuss student progress and look for opportunities for curriculum integration. In this case study, library faculty were included in the instructional team, and information literacy skills that relate to critical thinking were integrated into the goals of the critical thinking and English composition courses. Faculty involved in the courses believe that integrating library skills into course goals adds coherence to the curriculum; it also helps students to achieve the developmental goals of the learning community created by this course model.     

Library Instruction and Information Literacy for the Adult Learner: A Course and Its Lessons for Reference Work

Summary

The creation of a course, offered through UCLA University Extension, called “Research Methods for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Film Writers” was motivated by the observation that many adult learners lack information skills and the opportunity for formal library instruction. The content and format of this librarian-taught course have changed through the years both to incorporate more electronic resources and to employ more active learning methods. This article describes the need for the course, the course content and its evolution, and the active learning exercises employed. What an academic reference librarian derives from teaching such a course informs reference work with adult learners, whether or not they are part of the university community.     

Critical Thinking is a Life Relevancy: A Hospitality Management Student Case Study

ABSTRACT

This article describes a library workshop for freshman hospitality management students enrolled at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, which features a focus on critical thinking. An active learning experience uses an element of surprise. Students evaluate the Website of a bankrupt company where information about the company's situation is not obvious. When the instructor guides the class to find unbiased information from newspapers, many students begin to think critically about sources.     

Focus on the facts: A news and information literacy instructional program

ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the “fake news” issue and places it in the context of information literacy instruction for college students. In 2017, the faculty librarians at a large state college in Florida developed a news literacy instruction program that included instructional faculty outreach, lesson plans for one-shot information literacy instruction sessions, lessons assignments for one-credit information literacy classes, and learning objects in a LibGuide that can be used by students or embedded by faculty into courses across the disciplines.     

Student success pocket-graphic: a mountain of data transformed

Abstract

How does a small community college library, without marketing experience or budget, advocate for its value to a campus community and its administrators? We did so by creating an engaging, bright, and easy-to-read “pocket-graphic.” In this column, we reflect on the process of shaping a multi-use product out of a mountain of data. Through research in design practices, field observations of popular information tools, and an uncomfortable step into braggadocio, we learned to articulate the successes of our library. Our “pocket-graphic” told our story, yes – but it also provoked surprise, questions (“you really have all that?”) and delight in the lesser known successes (“you really DO all that!”). In the process, we connected our students more deeply to helpful services and resources, faculty to supportive instruction, and positively changed the tone of conversation with all our stakeholders. By turning data points into selling points, we found insights and a focus that moved our own development forward, helping ourselves to define improved priorities for advancing our critical role in student success.     

The Development of RoboDemo Tutorials in an OCLS Blackboard Space

ABSTRACT

The geographically, culturally, and academically diverse student population of Southern New Hampshire University encompasses more than 30 time zones and includes students enrolled in bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs. There is a constant challenge to reach out and make them aware that they have at their disposal an academic support resource such as the university's Shapiro Library. Although the Internet is an integral part of how our off-campus students “get to class,” its search engines also remain a means for conducting much if not all of their academic research.

RoboDemo(now Captivate) tutorials are continuing to be developed to attract and inform our students about the library's capabilities to assist them with their academic work. Housed in a Blackboard OCLS Resource space for SNHU Online faculty, these tutorials are available for downloading and insertion in individual classes. The tutorials are also available directly to students for viewing via the Shapiro Library Web page. This session will walk attendees through the deciding factors behind their development and the accompanying “learning curve” of lessons picked up along the way.     

Creating a Research Literacy Course for Education Doctoral Students

Abstract

Education students are often not very information literate, and doctoral students are no exception to this “rule of thumb.” The challenge of preparing doctoral students in education to use online resources as they begin the literature review process becomes even more complicated when these students are also distance students who happen to meet at various sites throughout the United States. This presentation will discuss the pros and cons of designing and delivering online and face-to-face versions of a one-credit elective course for students in Programs for Higher Education at Nova Southeastern University. The advantages and disadvantages of delivering content in synchronous and asynchronous formats are examined. Issues addressed include: (1) the relative merits of using WebCT versus using ordinary Web pages and WebBoard discussions, (2) how to incorporate active learning into both modalities for delivering the course, (3) how to pace and structure the delivery of both versions of the course to meet the needs of distance learners, (4) how to meet the needs of students with different learning styles, (5) how to assess learning outcomes, (6) how effective group work was in synchronous and asynchronous environments, (7) how much sequential and developmental learning is necessary in the instructional process for doctoral students, and (8) how the dynamics of collaboration with an academic program can impact the political realities of the design process.     

Building Brand Love and Gaining the Advocacy You Crave by Communicating Your Library's Value

ABSTRACT

Five years ago the Association of College and Research Libraries published “The Value of Academic Libraries” report, spurring academic libraries to action concerning assessment. Communicating library value is especially important when reaching distance learning populations outside the walls of the library. By employing marketing and branding strategies combined with the library's inherent characteristic of compassionate service, the library can use its powers for good to communicate value and gain advocacy for the library. This article discusses one distance learning librarian's experience building campus partnerships by assessing library services, and using assessment to build advocacy for the library within the institutional distance learning community.     

Library Instruction for First Year Students Using a CMS Meta-Course: Scalable and Customizable!

ABSTRACT

This case study reports on the process for creating a self-paced non-credit information literacy (IL) course delivered via a university's course management system. The four online modules are designed to contextualize information literacy competencies within the curriculum taught in First Year Seminar (FYS) courses. The meta-course approach changes the model of delivery of instruction for IL from a traditional face-to-face “one-shot” session to a hybrid model, with the responsibility for content delivery shifting from the librarian to the instructor of the FYS course.     

A Foot in the Door

Abstract

The Houston Community College System (HCCS) is one of the largest community colleges in the nation, serving over 52,000 students. Though there is no dedicated full-time distance education (DE) librarian at HCCS, “traditional” librarians are meeting the needs of a rapidly growing population of DE and hybrid students by adapting to new roles and applying technology in innovative ways. An adventuresome cadre of information professionals has been reaching out to students to engage them where learning takes place. These “virtual librarians” are embedded in Web-based courses in order to promote library services to students who may never set foot in a HCCS campus library. As DE enrollment continues to expand, however, it has become necessary to consolidate efforts, and this is being accomplished through the utilization of a Web log (blog) and syndication tools, as well as some additional free applications.     

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, students have trouble coping with the available health information regarding the coronavirus in their daily lives because of misinformation.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students at Taibah University during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsTo investigate the primary goal, this study used a simultaneous exploratory mixed methods design. Seventeen students participated in phone interviews, and 306 were invited to complete an online survey.AnalysisThe collected data was analyzed using both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo 10) methods.ResultsSearch engines, social media, and YouTube were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for COVID-19-related information. COVID-19 symptoms, restrictions, and the current spread of COVID-19 were the most searched topics by the respondents. Significant and relevant differences emerged for the digital health literacy subscales “information search” and “adding self-generated content”. However, there were no significant differences in the digital health literacy subscale “determining relevance”.ConclusionUsing the internet to provide health information tailored to the needs and interests of students to seek health information online and thereby improve their health literacy.     

Teaching Information Literacy Courses in The Context of Library and Information Science Education in Bulgaria: Challenges and Innovative Approaches

ABSTRACT

The article examines the application of innovative approaches in the information literacy training of library and information science students in Bulgaria. The change of the educational paradigm in the field is presented based on recent developments in one of the oldest Bulgarian institutions that prepares librarians and information specialists—the State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies. The active learning strategies suitable for information literacy skills development courses are studied by the use of three methods: “learning by doing,” “interaction in the learning group,” “learning by trial and error” within the practical training of students. The prospects for transforming information literacy instruction through the elaboration of digital educational games and a game-based learning model in the frame of the international project tiLIT are also outlined.     

Research reports

A persistent problem faced by the speech fundamentals instructor is that of evaluating student performance and assigning a numerical or letter “grade.”; Unlike courses in which the final grade is based upon one or two tests or projects, in the fundamentals course it most often is based on a series of performances, both spoken and written, which occur throughout the duration of the course. This study was designed to examine evaluation procedures in the speech fundamentals programs found in colleges and universities in this country. Although evaluation procedures were the primary focus of the investigation, other factors relating to the general organization and conduct of the beginning speech course also were considered.     

Diversity in the Classroom

Summary

Graduate schools of library and information science (LIS) are rediscovering civic engagement. Examples illustrate how LIS students further diversity efforts through service-based learning experiences. LIS students involved in the American Library Association's Spectrum Initiative helped plan the leadership institute and the longitudinal study of scholars. Students prepared pathfinders for faculty at tribal community colleges and tribal schools. LIS students helped develop and operate “If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything,” a national reading program for schools serving Native children. LIS students helped create a virtual tour of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).