Forward Progress One Step at a Time

Abstract

Library instruction about reference materials, databases, and quality web sites never goes out of fashion for students, faculty, or staff. An annual professional development program on the Colorado State University campus offers an opportunity to provide specialized library instruction to targeted faculty and staff members. For two consecutive years, the authors offered a workshop called “«Find it Fast»: Research Tips for People in a Hurry.” Using a standardized assessment tool, attendees were asked to rank their level of satisfaction with various aspects of the instruction session. By evaluating and incorporating this feedback, the authors modified and enhanced the workshop's format and content. Higher levels of user satisfaction are achieved in the second year, along with recommendations to continue and broaden the workshop.     

Learning to Teach in a New Medium

Abstract

The development of a new method of providing instruction involves many different issues. This paper examines a pilot project in which videoconferencing was used to provide library instruction to students at remote campuses. The librarians initiating this new service confronted the issues of training, adaptation of instruction techniques to the new format, and collaboration with faculty and administrative staff. They also dealt with administrative issues such as scheduling classes and facilities and staff scheduling. This paper examines how this cross-departmental project developed and was supported, how the initial training was conducted, and how existing class outlines were adapted. Also discussed are the lessons learned from the initial sessions. Varied administrative and collaborative challenges face the library, faculty, and departmental administrators as this project moves from pilot project status into a regular and required part of the curriculum.     

When Off-Campus Means Virtual Campus: The Academic Library in Second Life

ABSTRACT

This article discusses how a library's consistent policy of accessibility and foresight positioned itself to serve its students, faculty and staff in the virtual world of Second Life. Always ahead of the technological curve, this library has been the front-runner in providing services to distance learners via text messaging, “chat,” e-mail, and telephone services and via its laptop librarian project across the campus. It now is poised and ready to provide service in Second Life. Collaboration between the library and teaching faculty culminated in the creation, development, and furnishing of a library in Second Life, an environment that gives new meaning to “off-campus” learning. Without marketing, but as a visible presence, the Second Life library was able to attract both off-campus guests and affiliated students and faculty and even participated in campus-wide projects. This experiment has enjoyed the support of both the university and library administration.     

The Special Library on Campus

Abstract

A library and media center orientation program was developed for administrators, faculty and support staff after examining their information seeking behaviors, prior research, and demographics of this group. The goal of the orientation was to promote the library's and media center's services and resources; to encourage this user group to make use of them; and to teach the basic skills needed to address their information needs. This article includes a literature review; explanation of the processes involved in creating a library orientation program for this group; and discussion including ideas and thoughts as to where further research about this user group or library orientation programs might be beneficial.     

A health education outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library: lessons learned before and during a pandemic

Background:Public libraries serve as community centers for accessing free, trustworthy health information. As such, they provide an ideal setting to teach the local community about health and health literacy, particularly during public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2018, an outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library has developed, delivered, and continuously evaluated a health education program targeting public library users.Case Presentation:Health education activities were integrated into three existing public library programs: adult workshops, child and family programming, and circulating family activity kits. Prior to COVID-19, events were held at the public library, which then pivoted online during the pandemic. An interprofessional team approach combined the expertise of academic medical and public librarians, medical school faculty and staff, and medical students in developing the educational programs. Twelve in-person and five virtual programs were offered, and five circulating health education family kits were launched. Activities were assessed using program evaluation surveys of the adult and children''s programs and circulation statistics of the kits.Conclusions:This case report showcases the lessons learned from implementing a longitudinal outreach partnership between an academic medical library and public library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The interprofessional team approach and flexibility in program design and delivery in both the in-person and virtual environments proved critical to the success of the partnership. This partnership could serve as a model for other libraries interested in pursuing interprofessional collaborations in educating local communities on healthy behavior and health information–seeking practices.     

Library-Led Faculty Workshops: Helping Distance Educators Meet Information Literacy Goals in the Online Classroom

ABSTRACT

At University of Maryland University College (UMUC), librarians have designed and led a number of multiday, asynchronous online workshops for faculty. The workshops teach faculty how to meet information literacy goals in the virtual classroom. Through hands-on activities and discussion among their colleagues, participants in the faculty workshops learn about the university's information literacy standards, library resources and services, free Web tools, and how best to design class assignments involving library research. Library-led faculty workshops at UMUC have increased library visibility and furthered collaboration between faculty and librarians. This article discusses 5 workshops, detailing workshop content and logistics and demonstrating how librarians can help distance faculty further information literacy goals for students.     

Reference Services and Collection Development Faculty Outreach Through the Campus Network

Abstract

Effective reference services and collection development in a small academic library depend upon collaborative planning and performance by the entire library staff. Coordination of library activities and understanding of the library and college mission are the foundations of a program responsive to the needs of the college community. Partnerships between the library and classroom faculty ensure that curricular needs are satisfied through activities as diverse as bibliographic instruction and materials acquisition. Traditional interactions have been greatly enhanced through rapid advances in telecommunications, offering librarians additional tools for faculty outreach.     

Increasing student engagement using an Amazing Race–style competition

Background:Game-based learning is a successful strategy for teaching various concepts to students, from general orientations to more in-depth material. Pharmacy students in a first-year lab course were introduced to library and drug information resources through a lecture-style class in their first week of school, which was ineffective in terms of engagement. To combat this issue, the pharmacy liaison librarian advocated for moving this class session later in the semester and proposed a game-based activity to replace the lecture.Case Presentation:“The Amazing Race: Drug Information Edition” was inspired by a well-known TV competition that involves completing several stages (called “legs”) of challenges to finish the race. The librarian developed questions designed to make students use various parts of the library website as well as two drug information databases. Students competed in teams, and the first three teams to complete the race were awarded small prizes. The race was first implemented in 2018, and modifications were made to the 2019 iteration based on student feedback.Conclusions:Despite several challenges, the race was well received by both the students and the course instructors and increased engagement with introductory library and drug information material. The activity has enhanced the librarian''s relationship and collaboration with the course faculty and made a positive impression on the students.     

Collaboration between Library,Faculty, and Instructional Design to Increase All Open Educational Resources for Curriculum Development and Delivery

ABSTRACT

Students at universities spend an average of $1,250 yearly on textbooks and course materials. Can a collaboration between the Library and the Instructional Design Department create value for student populations by incorporating OER into the course development process? This is a case study of one University with a large online and distributed network with controls over the course design, timeline and curriculum delivered by the faculty. This University’s team tested whether the entire course could be designed in a scalable format using OERs collaborating with a librarian to organize the resources so students will have ready access to OER every time the course is offered. The result was an internal recommendation on structuring collaboration with the Library and course developers and presentation of the selected OERs in the Learning Management System. The result explored how adopting OERs redesigned course assignments and assessments in courses and fostered the development of original OERs in discipline-specific topics and content. The impact was a greater use of library resources by faculty and students and an economic impact to the student who does not have to purchase costly course materials. This process also supported course authentic assessment creation that are not dependent upon paid resources.     

On the Road,Playing with Legos®, and Learning about the Library: The Rutgers University Art Library Lego Playing Station,Part Two

ABSTRACT

In Playing with LEGO®, Learning about the Library, and “Making” Campus Connections: The Rutgers University Art Library Lego Playing Station, Part One, the author discusses the importance of outreach, creativity, and innovation to the future of academic libraries. Low-cost making activities, can encourage creative problem-solving skills and be an innovative way to teach students, faculty, and staff more about academic libraries. In this article, the author will look more closely at the hands-on learning experiences that resulted when academic library faculty and staff were introduced to the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology by means of a mobile makerspace.     

Library as the Technology Hub for the Health Sciences

Abstract

Academic health sciences libraries have an important role in facilitating the use of technology in health sciences curricula. Serving as a technology hub, the library supports, advocates, and provides access to new technologies. The library introduces many faculty and students to new technology tools, techniques, and equipment for new multimedia creation. As the technology hub grows and expands, library personnel can provide expertise, which demonstrates the library's value in leading the exploration of new technology, including Do-It-Yourself multimedia tools, virtual reality, virtual anatomy, and 3D printing.     

What Makes a Library Great?

Abstract

The author discusses seven measurable criteria that he accepts as defining a “great library”: Great libraries provide measurably superior service; have great funding; train and retrain their staffs; integrate their virtual, place and outreach services marketing; serve both the weakest and the strongest among their constituents; provide constituents with education and entertainment; and use virtual tools to offer a full range of timely information and services. These measurable characteristics define a modern library, the library that users want.     

A Full Revolution: Offering 360 Degree Library Services to Clinical Clerkship Students

ABSTRACT

In their third year, medical students transition from the classroom to the hospital. Librarians can ease this transition from assignment-based to patient-based information needs, and at the University of Iowa this takes many forms. Preparation begins in the second year with foundational instruction. Customized electronic resource centers aid in selection of specialized resources; demonstrations at clerkship orientations promote these centers; attending morning reports show a librarian on the clinical team; and exercises assess the ability to find quality answers quickly. This combination has improved the students' searching facility and their comfort with library staff. Data show student resource selection became varied and appropriate, although understanding of study designs is suboptimal. Feedback has been positive from both students and faculty. While these techniques have been successful, they are only the first step in an evolving program.     

Implementing Cost Effective Electronic Course Reserves in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how one academic library implemented electronic course reserves while keeping costs to a minimum. The system was implemented using a web page to provide links to electronic files in PDF format mounted on a Unix web server. Copyright restrictions and user access are issues that need to be addressed by any library considering e-reserves. In the face of positive faculty and student reaction to this new library service, one challenge that remains is raising public awareness so that more members of our university community may take advantage of this technology.     

A Practicum in Internet Training

Abstract

By designing an innovative practicum for a graduate information science student, a library can provide Internet training tailored to fit the specific needs of its college faculty and staff. In addition to program credit, a student gains bibliographic instruction experience in a real world, evolving library environment, and both institution and student benefit from a project that addresses the genuine needs of the institution.     

Law Library Tours in an Information Age

Summary

The virtual library poses challenges for law librarians in developing effective library orientation programs. Survey results from law librarians in academia and in law firms reveal how basic library orientation is conducted in light of the proliferation of electronic resources. The types of additional instruction being required, such as training in computer-assisted legal research and web searching, are examined along with the perceived effectiveness of the initial library tours.     

Measuring Effectiveness in a Virtual Library

Measuring quality of service in academic libraries traditionally includes quantifiable data such as collection size, staff counts, circulation numbers, reference service statistics, qualitative analyses of customer satisfaction, shelving accuracy, and building comfort. In the libraries of the third millennium, virtual worlds, Web content and remote customer populations mean that traditional measures of quality service are no longer complete. Applying methods to quantify effectiveness is vital to future success, and is a necessary precursor to examining quality of service. This case study of a small, virtual academic library, created to serve a non-traditional student population, faculty, and community, illustrates the use of measures such as the saturation rate of student population, the percentage of bibliographic sessions and orientations compared to number of courses offered, and Web site traffic patterns. As library services are affected by factors such as self-sufficient customers, declining physical collections, staff cuts, and increases in virtual traffic, all types of academic libraries may find it useful to implement the relatively uncomplicated data analysis explored in this article, in addition to established methodologies.     

Community-Enhanced Repository for Engaged Scholarship: A case study on supporting digital humanities research

ABSTRACT

Building digital curation and sustainability into digital humanities project development is challenging, and engaging digital humanities researchers fully as partners in curation practices with the library is even more so. How can we represent the longevity and sustainability of digital humanities research projects as a shared responsibility between faculty and student researchers and library staff? Northeastern University Libraries Digital Scholarship Group has designed a series of tools and workflows to ease the burden of sustainable development, support community engagement with digital materials, and enable the library and its partners to work together to build sustainable digital projects.     

ClioWeb,ClioRequest, and Clio Database: Enhancing Patron and Staff Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Faced with increased demand from student and faculty for a speedier and more user-friendly method of obtaining materials from other institutions, the interlibrary loan (ILL) department sought to implement a management system which would accomplish the task. Students wanted remote interconnectivity to the system and staff wanted increased workflow efficiency, reduced paper work, and better data management. This paper focuses on Washington College's experience in selecting and implementing an interlibrary loan system, which would enhance student satisfaction as well as that of the library staff.