Effective e-learning for health professionals and students--barriers and their solutions. A systematic review of the literature--findings from the HeXL project

Introduction: In 2003/4 the Information Management Research Institute, Northumbria University, conducted a research project to identify the barriers to e‐learning for health professionals and students. The project also established possible ways to overcome these barriers. The North of England Workforce Development Confederation funded the project. Methodology: The project comprised a systematic review of the literature on barriers to and solutions/critical success factors for e‐learning in the health field. Fifty‐seven references were suitable for analysis. This review was supplemented by a questionnaire survey of learners and an interview study of learning providers to ensure that data identified from the literature were grounded in reality. Results: The main barriers are: requirement for change; costs; poorly designed packages; inadequate technology; lack of skills; need for a component of face‐to‐face teaching; time intensive nature of e‐learning; computer anxiety. A range of solutions can solve these barriers. The main solutions are: standardization; strategies; funding; integration of e‐learning into the curriculum; blended teaching; user friendly packages; access to technology; skills training; support; employers paying e‐learning costs; dedicated work time for e‐learning. Conclusions: The authors argue that librarians can play an important role in e‐learning: providing support and support materials; teaching information skills; managing and providing access to online information resources; producing their own e‐learning packages; assisting in the development of other packages.     

E-books for the Classroom and Open Access Textbooks: Two Ways to Help Students Save Money on Textbooks

ABSTRACT

To help students withstand the rising cost of textbooks and in turn support the mission of student success, the University of South Florida (USF) has implemented two electronic resources–based initiatives as part of the Tampa Library’s Textbook Affordability Project. Through the E-books for the Classroom program, the library purchases electronic versions of texts required for coursework, providing equitable access to needed materials at no cost to the students. For the past 5 years, this program has evolved into a highly successful textbook affordability measure, acquiring hundreds of e-books and serving thousands of students. Additionally, the library, with the support of the Office of the Provost and in collaboration with Innovative Education, is publishing a faculty-authored multimedia Open Access textbook to be used by hundreds of students each semester in USF’s children’s literature courses. The USF institutional repository, Scholar Commons, will host the textbook, making it freely available on a global scale. This program effectively uses library expertise and skills, coordinating university-wide faculty, professional, and technical resources, to create library-as-publisher for the benefit of the students and textbook affordability.     

Striving for Success in the Reference Interview: A Case Study

The reference interview is integral to the success of the reference transaction. Thus, learning to conduct an effective reference interview is essential for library and information science students. Despite abundant literature on how to conduct the interview, little research exists on how well library and information science students are applying competencies associated with the reference interview, and how successful their reference interactions are. Through a survey reflection on a course-embedded assignment, this study examines reference success from the point of view of the library and information science student and their patrons. The results of the study have implications for library faculty and employers and reference managers.     

Biological databases: A new scientific literature

Biology is entering a new era in which data are being generated that cannot be published in the traditional literature. Databases are taking the role of scientific literature in distributing this information to the community. The success of some major biological undertakings, such as the Human Genome Project, will depend upon the development of a system for electronic data publishing. Many biological databases began as secondary literature—reviews in which certain kinds of data were collected from the primary literature. Now these databases are becoming a new kind of primary literature with findings being submitted directly to the database and never being published in print form. Some databases are offering publishing on demand services, where users can identify subsets of the data that are of interest, then subscribe to periodic distributions of the requested data. New systems, such as fordable while offering a powerful search tool to the scientific community. Although many questions remain regarding the ultimate interactions between electronic and traditional data publishing and about their respective roles in the scientific process, electronic data publishing is here now, changing the way biology is done. The technical problems associated with mounting cost-effective electronic data publishing are either solved, or solutions seem in reach. What is needed now, to take us all the way into electronic data publishing as a new, formal literature, is the development of more high-quality, professionally operated EDP sites. The key to transforming these into a new scientific literature is the establishment of appropriate editorial and review policies for electronic data publishing sites. Editors have the opportunity and the responsibility to work in the vanguard of a revolution in scientific publishing.     

Assessing instructional outcomes in Canadian academic libraries

This article reports on a three-year study of information literacy instruction in Canadian academic libraries, focusing on the outcomes of instruction in terms of tests of information literacy skills and interviews with students that explored their experiences of information literacy instruction. Particular emphasis is given to investigating instructional effectiveness and assessing learning outcomes with respect to identifying those institutional and pedagogical factors that promote successful outcomes. Outcomes of instruction include positive cognitive, behavioral, and affective results. Further discussion explores how instruction contributed to students' overall educational success and which factors characterize “success” in achieving those outcomes from the viewpoints of instructional librarians and from the perspectives of clients (i.e., students). These data provide a basis on which to advance instruction toward identifiable, positive outcomes for students in postsecondary institutions. An emphasis on such outcomes is essential if librarians are to justify devoting institutional resources to instructional activities.     

Digital Library Acceptance Model and Its Social Construction: Conceptualization and Development

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize a digital library acceptance model and its validation. Based on the extant literature and interviews with experts, a sixty-three statement questionnaire was developed and a survey was conducted to test the proposed model. The target population included library professionals and users from academic institutions in India including faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. These sixty-three statements were categorized into seventeen dimensions on the basis of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and two information success models. The model was tested using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The findings suggest that digital libraries can become more useful and acceptable to targeted user groups when they are developed in accordance with four major factors: systemic aspects, informational aspects, perception of the relevant social group, and user learning. This study is unique as it is the first time such a model has been developed for digital libraries with respect to social construction.     

Latino students and the academic library: A primer for action

As the growth in Latino college enrollment is expected to continue for years to come, academic libraries at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and beyond will be serving increasing numbers of Hispanic students. Since Latino educational attainment remains lower than of other groups and academic libraries' impact on retention, GPA and related educational outcomes has been well documented, it is crucial that academic libraries actively foster Latino students' success. A review of the literature on Hispanic students and library use, the article also includes recommendations for practice and offers a local example to illustrate strategies libraries may implement to better meet the educational needs of Hispanic students.     

First Year in Higher Education (FYHE) and the Coursework Post-Graduate Student

Research surrounding the First Year in Higher Education has identified and defined the need to support the transition of students during their first year in a tertiary institution. This support not only assists in acculturating students to the Higher Education environment, but also aims to ensure that students develop the foundational skills required for academic success; which enables higher progression and retention rates. However, most of the efforts to date have focused on undergraduate students. The authors assert that postgraduate coursework students require similar support structures. Data collected over a three year study compares the self-reported information literacy skills of postgraduate students within a Faculty of Business to undergraduate students in the same faculty. The data is situated within a broader review of the literature and some recommendations for academic librarians and academic skills advisers are offered.     

高校图书馆数字资源的使用成效--对中山大学研究生样本的观察

随着数字资源建设投入的持续增长,高校图书馆需要明确、客观有力的事实和数据证明其数字资源建设对学校长期战略目标的支持。文章通过文献调研梳理图书馆数字资源使用成效评估的相关问题,从学业成就、学术成就、信息素养能力与职业能力等4个方面构建研究生视角下的高校图书馆数字资源使用成效评估维度,探究研究生图书馆数字资源使用频率与其使用成效之间的关联。来自中山大学研究生样本的观察表明:研究生的数字资源使用频率与其使用成效各维度间均存在显著的正相关关系;硕士研究生、博士研究生在图书馆数字资源使用成效上存在显著性差异;图书馆数字资源的使用成效受到学科影响。面向不同类型用户,高校图书馆数字资源使用成效具有多种表现形式,需要从定性与定量角度,综合采用多种方法加以描述和测评。高校图书馆还应关注影响研究生对图书馆数字资源使用成效的感知与体验的因素,并围绕这些因素改进数字资源的建设与服务质量,进一步促进数字资源价值的实现。     

发挥高校图书馆优势 为大学生创业教育服务

创业教育是一种全新的教育模式与教育理念,对于缓解我国就业压力、促使高等教育健康、可持续发展具有重要意义。高校图书馆在创业教育方面有着自身特有的文献资源优势、人才队伍优势、现代化技术优势和环境资源优势,图书馆要发挥优势,帮助大学生打好创业的知识基础、提高大学生的创业成功率、培养大学生的创业意识,从而未大学生创业教育服务。     

Best Practices for Creating an Online Tutorial: A Literature Review

In the digital era, information literacy skills enable users to locate and use online materials effectively. One persistent library service for libraries is providing skills training to students. This article traces the creation of online library instructional tutorials, currently referred to as digital learning objects, in academic libraries. It isolates the factors that improve the success of these learning tools, including knowledge of the tutorials’ purpose and potential, collaboration with other individuals, the use of standards, student engagement, and evaluation. The literature review also illustrates the incorporation of multimedia learning theories and assessment strategies in these tutorials. By developing appropriate learning tools, librarians offer services aimed at meeting user needs while reducing time and resource demands on library staff.     

Motivating College Students: An Exploration of Psychological Needs from a Communication Perspective

The purpose of this study was to identify the various ways that instructors communicatively fulfill college students’ basic psychological needs (i.e. autonomy, competence, relatedness) in the classroom. Participants were 119 undergraduate students who completed open-ended, self-report questionnaires. Analyses of the coded data revealed that a variety of instructor communication behaviors and practices previously identified in the effective teaching literature fulfill students’ needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. According to Deci and Ryan’s (1985) self-determination theory, the fulfillment of these needs intrinsically motivates students to learn, develops their cognitive capacities, and equips them for short-term and long-term success.     

探析三大人才奖励计划中女性获奖者的成功因素

分析女性获奖者成功因素,有助于探索其全面、健康、可持续发展的基本规律,有助于促进女性高层次科 技工作者的培养。文章以获得长江学者奖励计划、杰出青年基金和百人计划三大人才奖励计划的女性群体为研究对象, 分析年龄、学习工作经历、获得其他奖励与女性获奖者成功的关系,提出了建立允许人才合理流动的管理机制,促进有 女性科技工作者参加的学术团队的建设,特别是跨学科、跨领域和跨机构的合作,设立女性科技工作者专项奖励机制, 设立多种女性科技工作者奖励计划,消除性别偏见,统一退休年龄等建议。     

Providing Technical Report Services in the Academic Library

Technical reports are a valuable information resource for faculty and students in engineering and the sciences. Academic libraries should have service plans designed to handle requests for these materials. This paper reviews some of the options available for providing reference services and document delivery for the technical report literature.     

The rise of GovTech: Trojan horse or blessing in disguise? A research agenda

As GovTech solutions are steadily entering the public sector, they have yet to find their way into the mainstream literature. GovTech refers to socio-technical solutions – that are developed and operated by private organisations – intertwined with public sector components for facilitating processes in the public sector. GovTech solutions promise a superior customer journey for citizens and businesses compared to current government portals and front desks. GovTech solutions can be a blessing in disguise for governments struggling in their digital transformation journey, carrying the burden of public service innovation and replacing legacy systems with modern GovTech solutions. Yet, there are also concerns that GovTech solutions are a Trojan horse, exploiting the lack of technical knowledge at public agencies and shifting decision-making power from public agencies to market parties, thereby undermining digital sovereignty and public values. This paper develops a research agenda for GovTech based on a conceptual framework. This framework reveals four interrelated design areas for GovTech: institutional, governance, technical and human-centred design. Governments can employ the conceptual framework to further align and develop their strategies by focussing on GovTech governance, referring to the ability to manage the various interdependencies between the four design areas.     

Implementation of the cognitive apprenticeship model for enhancement of advanced searching skills in a pharmacy academia rotation

Background:Pharmacy students are primarily taught literature searching skills didactically during their Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. To effect change in the area of advanced literature searching skills, a pharmacy librarian joined with two Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) preceptors to design and implement a crash course on applied systematic searching skills for a cohort of four students.Case Presentation:Through the cognitive apprenticeship model, a Systematic Searching Crash Course (SSCC) was implemented among a cohort of four academic APPE students. Students developed search strategies using controlled vocabulary and free text, translated their searches into multiple databases, and used citation management software to build libraries of evidence. Additionally, the cohort blindly peer reviewed each other''s search strategies, wrote literature reviews, and finally conducted a search together without input from the pharmacy librarian.Conclusions:Review of the pre-/post-course self-assessment taken by the cohort indicates the SSCC is a success in terms of improving student confidence in accessing and synthesizing primary literature. As the crash course is further refined and implemented, there may be more opportunity to embed the course into didactic curriculum and residency programs and to potentially reproduce it for other health science disciplines.     

免费开放背景下影响公共图书馆读者服务关键成功因素研究

以某公共图书馆为例,引进企业关键成功因素分析法,探讨免费开放背景下影响公共图书馆读者服务工作的相关内部因素和外部因素,运用文献调查法、德尔菲法确定影响图书馆读者服务的关键成功因素,可为我国公共图书馆读者服务工作的研究提供一种定性与定量相结合的新的研究路径。