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.     

University Libraries and Academic Strategic Planning at the University of Cincinnati

As part of a broadly defined academic strategic planning initiative at the University of Cincinnati, the Libraries developed a five-year plan. This article describes the process including its successes and failures, documents the most positive outcomes resulting from the process, and raises several issues related to university-wide planning processes.     

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.     

Just Enough of a Good Thing: Indications of Long-Term Efficacy in One-Shot Library Instruction

Website attributions were measured as one way of evaluating the efficacy of the “one-shot” library session. Survey results indicated support for single session information literacy instruction in that participants exposed to a librarian classroom visit reported that they would be significantly more likely to have used library databases, checked out a book, asked a librarian for help, and to predict that they would ask a librarian for help at a later time. Results also indicated that students who reported a classroom librarian visit may have engaged in more systematic or complex processing to evaluate websites in that they considered more attributes and took less time to make better judgments about the quality of sources.     

高校图书馆新生培训效果调查及培训模式创新——以中山大学东校区图书馆为例

采用问卷调查法对中山大学东校区图书馆新生培训效果进行调查,发现其中存在有限的培训时间与不断增长的培训内容之间的矛盾、不断增长的新生人数与有限的培训资源之间的矛盾、培训针对性不强等问题亟待解决。在图书馆现有培训资源的基础上,提出新生培训前开展自学自测、采用体验式学习模式和针对性电子资源现场操作演示相结合的新型培训模式,将传统新生培训与网络技术紧密结合在一起,适应新形势下新生培训工作的需求。     

Internet Engineering Reference-An Academic Strategy

Summary

The McKinney Engineering Library has always been an activist library-we play to win and winning means providing users with high quality help whenever and wherever they need it. This paper describes a multi level strategy for reaching out to engineering users wherever they are. This strategy includes the creation of several kinds of web based tools including: a full online tutorial aimed at new graduate students, specialized exploratory tutorials aimed at users who need only a quick introduction in how to use a specific tool, and topic guides on cross disciplinary design topics. An integrated part of our strategy is an aggressive marketing plan geared toward reminding our users that the Engineering Library and its website are THE places to find information and help. We have changed our thinking-the web makes the library remote from its users, not the Otherway around.     

Promoting Critical Thinking Skills in Online Information Literacy Instruction Using a Constructivist Approach

ABSTRACT

A constructivist approach to teaching and learning holds that the learner, through interaction and experience with an object or process, creates knowledge. Instruction based upon constructivist theory places the student at the center of the learning environment, while the instructor serves as a guide or facilitator. In direct contrast, traditional learning places the learning in a more passive role, simply mirroring or reproducing knowledge that was provided by the instructor. Constructivist theory has enjoyed a certain level of popularity in higher education as emphasis has shifted from a pedagogical framework to a more andragogical (i.e., adult and learner-centered rather than instructor-lead) one. Emphasis upon teaching critical thinking skills seems a natural fit with a constructivist-based approach to learning. Critical thinking involves the conceptualization, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and ultimate application of information so that the learner may reach conclusions or form independent judgments based upon what the learner has experienced combined with previous knowledge. The teaching of critical thinking skills using a constructivist-based approach in the field of online library instruction would be an effective means of reaching the large percentage of learners who do not participate in traditional face-to-face bibliographic instruction sessions. This is further supported by the Association of College and Research Libraries' Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education. This article will provide theoretical and philosophical arguments for constructivist-based approaches to teaching critical thinking skills online using online technologies.     

The Public Library as Provider of Library Services to Educational Institutions

No abstract available for this article.     

Enhancing Library Instruction to Undergraduates: Incorporating Online Tutorials into the Curriculum

ABSTRACT

Librarians can replace or supplement traditional in-class instruction with course-specific online tutorials. The literature demonstrates how tutorials customized for specific courses are more beneficial than tutorials on basic research skills. Many authors discuss creating online tutorials but do not design one devoted to a specific course. With increasing demand for instruction services, online tutorials can ease staffing concerns prevalent at many libraries and otherwise enhance the quality of instruction and its application to varied learning styles. Using the Blackboard course management system, the authors created an online tutorial tailored to the required World Civilizations course at the University at Buffalo. The tutorial incorporated elements of successful online tutorials described in the literature: clear terminology, a quiz for self-assessment, opportunities for active learning, and individual e-mail feedback between students and librarians, and applied them to a specific course. The authors discuss student and librarian reaction to the tutorial and make recommendations for how the tutorial can be improved and implemented in everyday instruction services.     

Matching Up Learning Styles with Learning Objects: What's Effective?

ABSTRACT

Online instruction is quite prevalent on campuses and within libraries. Librarians are engaged in the creation of learning objects that can either be linked to or embedded within course-management systems. But are those instructional tools designed to best accommodate diverse learners or are they constructed to reflect the teaching and learning style of the designer? Results from a study (a survey of librarians, student usability studies, and interviews) document both considerations made in the creation of learning objects, and the effectiveness of learning objects from students’ perspectives. The findings may be useful for future modifications of these tools (e.g., tutorials, videos, podcasts, and PowerPoints).