To search or to browse: How users navigate a new interface for online library tutorials

As academic libraries create online learning objects, it is important to consider whether such resources actually reach and answer the questions of intended users. This study considers three points of inquiry for one academic library: How its users make their way to the library's tutorials; user preference for searching or browsing for resources, when given both modes of access; and the kinds of online learning objects or tutorials users are seeking. A close examination of Web analytics and users’ search terms within the tutorials interface helped to illustrate patterns of access and highlighted users’ needs for tutorials and online learning objects.     

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.     

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.     

Instruction in a Virtual Environment

Abstract

In 2002, librarians at the Utah State University (USU) Libraries were awarded a grant to develop online tutorials. The major design challenge was to create tutorials specific to USU resources and students, including distance learners, while also making them flexible so that other Utah colleges and universities can adapt them for their own needs. The tutorials also needed to address the information behavior of a new generation of students accustomed to using computers and the Internet. While recent studies have begun to address some gaps in our knowledge of the information behavior of the Web Generation, we conducted a needs assessment to help us create a tutorial that more accurately addresses the existing knowledge and behavior of undergraduates at USU. We used multiple methods to determine the learning needs of our audience and to provide guidance for the design process.     

Academic Library Outreach Through Faculty Partnerships and Web-Based Research Aids

Summary

Electronic library services and myriad online resources are shifting the roles and workloads of academic reference librarians. Reallocation of staffing through a differentiated reference desk service model provides time to author curriculum-centered online research guides and tutorials, bibliographies, and webliographies. The expanding electronic information environment also opens new opportunities for teaching partnerships with university faculty. This article showcases a librarian's collaborative work with a history professor, noting student benefits/reactions and implications for future collaboration.     

Going mental: Tackling mental models for the online library tutorial

Online instructional design is a relatively new field for librarians. Many librarians have taken on the challenge of creating online library tutorials without the benefit of formal education and training in the field. Librarians can learn much from research in system design, human–computer interaction, and applied psychology, as it relates to the creation of online learning systems. Researchers in these areas believe that people approach online learning systems by making use of a conceptual—or mental—model of the system. Designers' mental models influence the way they create learning systems; students' mental models affect the way they interact with and learn from the system. This article compares and contrasts the mental models of librarians and students as they relate to online library tutorials. These mental models are examined through a review of existing library tutorials, usability studies on various library tutorials, and student interviews about the research and writing process. Analysis of these models demonstrates how undergraduates' mental models vary, often significantly, from the mental models of the librarians who design the online library tutorials. Interpretations of this analysis identify ways in which to design a tutorial for more effective instruction aimed at the undergraduate.     

A Review of “Information Literacy Meets Library 2.0”

This study compared two common types of online information literacy tutorials: a streaming media tutorial using animation and narration and a text-based tutorial with static images. Nine sections of an undergraduate biology lab class (234 students total) were instructed by a librarian on how to use the BIOSIS Previews database. Three sections watched a brief video tutorial, three sections used an interactive HTML tutorial, and three sections received live instruction only. The content of instruction was the same across all nine sections. Immediately after instruction, each class was encouraged to complete a brief survey and quiz. One hundred and fifty-four students completed the survey and quiz. In all three conditions, students reported feeling more confident searching the BIOSIS Previews database after instruction. However, the increase in confidence was less for the HTML group. The students who watched the video tutorial scored higher on all five quiz questions than the other two groups. Comparing the HTML and video groups, the difference in scores was statistically significant (p < .05) for questions 1, 2, and 5. Students may learn more from video tutorials than tutorials that use static Web pages. Also, interactivity in tutorials may not necessarily enhance learning.     

Utilizing WebQuests for Information Literacy Instruction in Distance Education

ABSTRACT

The increasing use of problem-based learning in higher education affords librarians new avenues for promoting the development of information literacy skills among students. Information literacy instruction supports problem-based learning activities by providing students with skills to locate relevant resources for developing solutions to these exercises. The author created three WebQuests (together with tutorials) aimed at promoting faculty-librarian partnerships to deliver information literacy instruction through a problem-based learning approach in the context of course work in a distance learning environment. These problem-based learning WebQuests can be adapted to various disciplines as well as to traditional learning environments. Lastly, these WebQuests promote the development of information literacy skills in students as well as increase their exposure to problem-based learning. doi:10.1300/J106v14n03_03     

A quiver full of arrows: recommended Web-based tutorials for PubMed,PowerPoint, Ovid MEDLINE,and FrontPage

Librarians often are responsible for instructing their patrons in the use of various databases and popular software packages. When this instruction can't be provided through face-to-face contact, Web-based tutorials can be useful tools to bridge the information gap. This article recommends Web-based tutorials for PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, PowerPoint, and FrontPage.     

Developing a Best Practices Plan for Tutorials in a Multi-Library System

In 2010, the University of Iowa's library system administration created a task force to conduct a reevaluation of tools and spaces used for video tutorial creation across a multi-library system. Following this effort, a working group was charged with improving documentation and staff awareness of resources for developing video tutorials. The group observed that librarians were often independently creating videos that were variable in quality, lacked consistent branding, and were not often shared with others. This article will describe experiences at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa in selecting video tutorial software, and striving to establish a more structured process, including team-developed guidelines, for tutorial creation in a multi-library system. Project limitations and areas for future work will also be presented.     

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.     

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.     

Creating Library Tutorials for Nursing Students

This article describes one librarian's experiences with creating, promoting, and assessing online library tutorials. Tutorials were designed to provide on-demand and accessible library instruction to nursing students at Michigan State University. Topics for tutorials were chosen based on the librarian's liaison experiences and suggestions from nursing faculty. The tutorials were created using Camtasia and required the application of several tools and techniques. Tutorials were promoted through Web pages, the ANGEL course management system, blog posts, librarian interactions, e-mails, and more. In order to assess the tutorials' perceived effectiveness, feedback was gathered using a short survey. Future plans for the nursing tutorials project are also discussed.     

Teaching Medical Computing Skills to Internal Medicine Residents

Abstract

Librarians often are responsible for instructing their patrons in the use of various databases and popular software packages. When this instruction can't be provided through face-to-face contact, Web-based tutorials can be useful tools to bridge the information gap. This article recommends Web-based tutorials for PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, PowerPoint, and FrontPage.     

Guide on the Side and LibWizard Tutorials Side-By-Side: How Do the Two Platforms for Split-Screen Online Tutorials Compare?

Split-screen tutorials are an appealing and effective way for libraries to create online learning objects where learners interact with real-time Web content. Many libraries are using the University of Arizona's award-winning, open source platform, Guide on the Side. In 2016, Springshare released a proprietary alternative, LibWizard Tutorials. This article reviews the advantages and limitations of this kind of tutorial. It also examines the differences between each platform's distinctive characteristics. These platforms create similar split-screen tutorials, but have differences that affect diverse aspects of installation, administration, authoring and editing, student learning, data management, and accessibility. Libraries now have the opportunity to consider and compare alternative platforms, and decide which one is best suited to their needs, priorities, and resources.     

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.     

Off-campus adult learners' levels of library anxiety as a predictor of attitudes toward the Internet

This study assesses what factors associated with library anxiety predict off-campus adult learners' attitudes toward the educational use of the Internet. Off-campus adult learners were graduate students attending classes at a distance of 50 or more miles from their home institution's library. Two factors associated with library anxiety, knowledge of the library and affective barriers, yielded a multiple R of .30, accounting for 9 percent of the variance in respondents' attitudes toward the Internet. Findings indicate that off-campus adult learners' perceptions of their information retrieval skills impact their anxiety levels while utilizing library and Internet resources. Findings suggest the benefit of including information in library tutorials about accessing databases and hands-on computer instruction to elevate adult learners' perceptions of their competency.     

À La Carte Learning

ABSTRACT

Orientation for distance students often does not equal the ideal teachable moment for learning about library resources and services. Seeking ways to provide learning objects for students to use at the point of need, academic health sciences librarians have created printable guides, Flash video demonstrations and simulations, and interactive tutorials. This electronic poster demonstrates how the learning objects were created, modified, and inserted into various delivery platforms, such as the library's web page, course management system, and CD-ROM.     

Are online tutorials effective? A comparison of online and classroom library instruction methods

Librarians are conducting instruction sessions outside the traditional classroom setting using online tutorials with increasing frequency. Online tutorials seem like an obvious solution to meet the growing need for instruction to users in a time when resources are shrinking. Can librarians effectively teach library skills using an online tutorial? Approximately 300 students enrolled in an undergraduate psychology course at the University of South Florida Tampa Campus attended either a library research class or completed an online tutorial as part of their coursework. Participants were given a post-test and were surveyed about their confidence levels and preferred method of library instruction. Analysis of the test scores indicated that there was no significant difference in the learning outcomes between in-person and online library instruction. The majority of students indicated a preference for online instruction over classroom instruction. A rise in confidence levels was noted across both groups.