Tools and Principles for Effective Online Library Instruction: Andragogy and Undergraduates

The library literature evaluating the efficacy of online tutorial methods and delivery tools is a valuable resource for librarians looking for information to inform their choices for developing asynchronous online instruction. This literature, however, examines a wide variety of delivery tools, methods, and student populations. As a result, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions about any one tutorial tool or method. This article compares selected research and concludes that the consensus in the literature suggests that applying adult learning principles to library tutorials has a larger impact on effective online instruction than the individual tool.     

Visual Tutorials for Point-of-Need Instruction in Online Courses

ABSTRACT

This paper will discuss a method of incorporating demonstrations into online information and technology literacy courses. The demonstrations are designed to increase the visual component and to address point-of-need questions and problems. Also discussed will be experimentations with this method in other library services, such as electronic reference services, one-shot course-related instruction, subject research guides, and outreach to faculty for their own professional development and as a way to incorporate information and technology literacy in their courses. Recent developments in tutorial software have made it possible to quickly create brief demonstration modules to visually illustrate information literacy concepts and research tools. The primary example presented here is the incorporation of short, task-oriented demonstrations into lesson modules, answers to student questions, and assignment instructions and feedback in an online information and technology literacy course. Initial comments from students and instructors indicate high satisfaction with this method.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Information Literacy Tutorials for Millennial Undergraduates

This article reports on the findings of a study that evaluated the effectiveness of redesigning online information literacy tutorials in order to meet the learning needs and preferences of Millennial students. Using both quantitative and qualitative measures, this study compared two different online tutorials—a static, HTML-based tutorial and a dynamic, interactive, audio/video tutorial. This study found that, contrary to generalizations made in the library and education literature, Millennial students learned equally well from both tutorials. However, students expressed a much higher level of satisfaction from the tutorial designed to be “Millennial friendly.”     

Online and Face-to-Face Library Instruction: Assessing the Impact on Upper-Level Sociology Undergraduates

Online information literacy instruction: Can it impact learning as effectively as face-to-face instruction? Using a quasi-experimental design, this study examined that in relation to upper-level sociology students; it also considered whether library instruction affected participants’ perceptions of learning formats’ (i.e., online or face-to-face) effectiveness and the academic library's place in their research. Using a pretest/posttest design, no significant learning difference was found between the two instructional delivery formats. However, data suggested that instruction did impact online participants’ perceptions of the academic library as a place for research. Implications of this research and future directions for inquiry are discussed.     

Online Tutorials and Effective Information Literacy Instruction for Distance Learners

As Internet and computer technologies have evolved, libraries have incorporated these technologies into the delivery of information literacy instruction. Of particular benefit is the ability of online tutorials to deliver information literacy instruction to students not physically present on campus. A survey of library and information science literature determines that while a variety of methodologies have produced mixed results, the majority of studies find online tutorials can often be as or more effective than face-to-face instruction. However, more consistent research methods are needed to draw meaningful conclusions regarding student preferences, satisfaction and performance in response to online instruction.     

New Tools for Online Information Literacy Instruction

This article investigates the new landscape of online information literacy tools, such as embedding resources into course management software and specific academic organizations' web sites and using podcasts, screencasts, blogs, Web-based board games, and virtual three-dimensional environments. This article also explores the influence these methods have on information literacy skills of undergraduate students.     

高校图书馆在线信息素质教育模式的探讨与研究

分析了国内外高校图书馆在线信息素质教育的现状,提出了在线信息素质教育目标和评价指标体系的统一化,教育内容的层次化、专业化和模块化。结合深圳大学图书馆用户教育的实际情况,提出同时利用网站和网络教学平台整合教学内容与资源,进行在线信息素质教育。     

高职院校图书馆在线信息素质教育的调查与分析——以100所示范性高职院校为例

文章通过对国内100所示范性高职院校图书馆的OILI进行网络调查,分析了高职图书馆OILI开展的现状,指出了目前高职图书馆OILI中存在的各种问题,并提出了相应的建议。     

Working out the Bugs: Piloting Library Instruction in an Online Entomology Graduate Program

Like most of its peer institutions, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries faced the challenge of meeting the needs of a growing number of students taking online courses. The author, hired as the new Virtual Learning Librarian in January 2016, was charged with creating a new Virtual Learning Program. This tutorials-based program was first fully implemented in a fully online Entomology graduate program. This paper summarizes the development of the Virtual Learning Program, how it was adapted to the Entomology program, and the initial results from the first semester of implementation.     

Using Online Tutorials to Reduce Uncertainty in Information Seeking Behavior

ABSTRACT

Uncertainty is defined as affective symptoms of stress, anxiety, and frustration when faced with an information need. Traditional face-to-face instruction allows sender and receiver to fulfill information needs using multiple sources, which can be visual, auditory, tactile, or verbal. Distance learners may experience high levels of uncertainty when most or all of the communication and interaction takes place in an electronic environment that does not allow for these multiple information sources. Research on face-to-face communication and uncertainty suggests that people attempt to reduce uncertainty by acquiring more information and also by using structured or familiar information resources. This paper suggests that many of our behavioral motivations in face-to-face activities would also apply in the online environment. By creating online tutorials that combine structured hierarchical instructions with familiar modes of communication, we may be able to reduce symptoms of uncertainty in the library search process.     

Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Library Instruction with Finance Students

ABSTRACT

Many academic librarians use online information literacy tutorials as an alternative or a supplement to in-class library instruction. Tutorials created with streaming media software such as Camtasia Studio have become increasingly popular. Librarians at a mid-sized Midwestern university have created several such tutorials demonstrating various library resources. The value of streaming-media tutorials is supported by key learning theories such as cognitive load theory, dual coding theory, and multimedia learning theory. However, studies measuring the impact of online tutorials on student learning of information-literacy skills have shown mixed results. The authors tested the effectiveness of an online information literacy tutorial on a group of undergraduate business students. About 140 students in three undergraduate finance classes rated a Value Line online tutorial. Students were also invited to complete a follow-up survey online with Blackboard. This survey measured student knowledge retention of Value Line and interest in online tutorials. The results showed that while students viewed the tutorial positively, they preferred face-to-face instruction from a librarian. Also, while most students could locate the proper links in Value Line, only 30 percent were able to successfully look up a company. Indicators point to a future for online instruction coexisting with, yet not replacing, traditional classroom library instruction.     

Taking Library Instruction into the Online Classroom: Best Practices for Embedded Librarians

ABSTRACT

The proliferation of online courses has led librarians to adapt their instructional techniques and follow teaching faculty and students into the online environment. Moving beyond Web pages and online research guides, librarians are now becoming instructional partners in online course management systems. Through an online survey of librarians and a literature review, the authors examine best practices for these “embedded librarians.”     

From Distance Education to Online Learning: Practical Approaches to Information Literacy Instruction and Collaborative Learning in Online Environments

The increasingly ubiquitous nature of online learning has necessarily changed pedagogical approaches in the 21st century. This article will present an overview of the evolution of distance learning with a particular emphasis on current models and emerging methods of instruction for online learners. The authors detail how various learning management systems and tools as well as online learning objects can be used as mechanisms for creating a platform for student investment and ownership in the learning process. Additional discussion will focus on how these methods and approaches can enhance teaching, training, and peer collaboration within the library workplace.     

Providing Library Instruction to Distance Learning Students in the 21st Century

ABSTRACT

This study examines the variety of instructional practices employed in distance learning librarianship from the end of the 20th Century through the early beginnings of the 21st Century. The authors provide a thorough review of the literature on distance learning library instruction, and the study highlights the instructional services provided at two academic institutions with distinctly different clienteles and missions-one a large American university and the other a large Caribbean university.     

Library Instruction for the Next Millennium

Abstract

The library staff, in conjunction with the Graduate School of Management and Technology (GSMT) and Undergraduate Programs (UGP), developed two online courses. The first, for GSMT, was an online, fee-based, self-paced, required course for all incoming graduate students at the University of Maryland, University College (UMUC). The second, LIBS 100, was an elective, for-credit course. The process of designing, testing, and delivering the graduate course is described. In addition, a comparison of the two course design processes is briefly reviewed. Finally, the initial survey data assessing the students' perception of the value of the graduate course is also included.     

图书馆"在线信息素养课程"构建与实现

在广泛调研国内外高校图书馆在线信息素养教育内容和形式的基础上,分析了我国高校信息素质教育目前存在的一些问题,提出构建集成化、开放式的图书馆"在线信息素养课程"建议,并从教学内容的整体构架、教学模式、模块内容、学习效果测试和反馈方面展开探讨.     

Combined Use of Online Tutorials and Hands-On Group Exercises in Bibliographic Instruction for Pharmacy Students

This study describes the new blended learning methodology implemented in a Drug Literature Evaluation course for pharmacy students that involves combined use of online tutorials and in-class group exercises. Assignment grades earned by 909 students enrolled in the course before and after the new methods were implemented (2008–2010) were studied to measure student performance. Course evaluations were analyzed in order to ascertain students’ perceptions. The hybrid approach used to deliver the course content allowed students to perform at the same level as traditional didactic teaching. Students’ evaluations reported a positive educational experience and favorable perceptions of the new course design.     

Reflecting on Quiz Placement in Online Tutorials: Creating a More Active Learning Experience

As the number of online library tutorials increases, so does the need to create active learning experiences and options for self-assessment. This article looks at embedding short Flash quizzes into tutorials created with Camtasia as a way to address this need. It also attempts to determine how quiz placement affects desire to view online tutorials and information retention.     

Integrating Information Literacy into the Graduate Liberal Arts Curriculum: A Faculty-Librarian Collaborative Course Model

SUMMARY

The article presents a faculty-librarian collaborative course model for information literacy instruction for liberal arts students. Information literacy was integrated seamlessly into a master's thesis seminar, and the faculty member and librarian worked together to teach students effective research skills while helping them make personal connections to their theses. The learning experience was transformational. As students engaged themselves with problems of the real world and shared their learning, their voices articulated insights about themselves and the world. The authors conclude that integrating information literacy into the curriculum and teaching students holistically is the key to successful student learning.     

Creation,Management, and Assessment of Library Screencasts: The Regis Libraries Animated Tutorials Project

ABSTRACT

The Distance Learning Department of the Regis University Library is charged with providing library instruction for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in accelerated courses offered at six distance campus locations and online. The department has created a series of animated online tutorials (i.e., screencasts) accessible via the library Web site. These interactive tutorials cover basic library services and resources and represent an effort to provide asynchronous bibliographic instruction to remote library users. This paper describes the use of screencasting software to create library tutorials and related issues including software options, production tips and techniques, and project management. In addition, the author describes the use of Google Analytics to record usage statistics and perform assessments.